Another Day Dawning
by Flyvarna
Summary: AU Sibling fic to "At the End of the Day" "What could I say about my brother...In my eyes he was the lucky one."
1. Chapter 1

Another Day Dawning

_Disclaimer: I own neither Digimon, nor its' characters, nor any other franchise I may mention. Enjoy!_

That morning didn't begin like any other morning.

"Kouji. Wake up."

Fortunately, my father had the sense to not try and shake me awake. I didn't like being touched by strange people and in that one moment when I'm first awakened it's a little hard to tell relative from stranger.

"What is it?" I looked at my clock. Eight in the morning. "Isn't it a bit early for anything?"

He sighed. "Something's come up...I need you down in the living room. There's something I have to tell you.

I scowled and sat up. If he wanted me downstairs, then no doubt the woman he married, my stepmother Satomi was involved somehow. Either she was part of the news or my father was breaking the news to her, too. Dad, evidently satisfied that in spite of my grumbling I was on my way, turned and walked out.

What could possibly be so important that he woke me so early, I wondered. The question kept me occupied as I dressed. Maybe Satomi was pregnant. No, that didn't make any sense. If she was, wouldn't she and Dad wait until a slightly better time of day to tell me? Besides, I didn't need any baby brother or sister messing with my life. So, what did that leave?

Satomi was busy in the kitchen. I didn't see any sign of Raiko, my German shepard. I guessed Dad or Satomi had put her outside. Dad was already there, sitting on the couch with a large box on the table in front of him looking at what looked like a photo.

"Kouji, you made it. I was beginning to wonder if you'd gone back to sleep."

"What was so important that you had to drag me out of bed this early in the morning?"

Dad ignored me, instead getting up and poking his head in the kitchen.

"Satomi, could you come in here? I...Something important came up that we all need to talk about."

"Huh?" Satomi followed him back into the living room using a dishcloth to dry her hands. "Kousei, does this have something to do with that phone call you got last night?"

"You could say that." My father was fidgeting nervously with the photo in his hands. "I...I need...I haven't been entirely truthful with either of you. Part of it was that I couldn't bring myself to talk about my first wife because it hurt too much..."

His first wife. My mother, who had died in a car crash when I was two. All I had of her were some photographs and, according to my father, her looks. He was right in that, at least. Looking in a mirror, I could see the similarities.

"...And the other reason is because I didn't want to deal with either of you finding out she was still alive."

You could hear a pin drop in the silence. My mother was still alive? And Dad had gone all this time_ keeping _it from me. Why? And if she was alive, why hadn't she shown up to see me? I wanted to turn, go out the door, and find her, but couldn't. The shock and rage at being deceived like that made any movement I wanted to do, vocal or body, impossible.

Satomi recovered her voice first. "Tomoko's alive? You've been keeping it from your _son_ for all these years. Kousei, you..."

"You're a real monster, aren't you?" I finally managed to get out. "She's been alive all this time. And _you knew it! _You..."

I don't want to repeat the names I called him. Let's just say I spent the next few minutes calling my father every horrible name I could think of. Eventually I had to pause to catch my breath. Why was I wasting my time on my father? My mother was alive! I could actually meet her...

"I probably deserve being called all that for lying to you, but it hurt too much to talk about her...The divorce got really nasty at the end." My father finally got a word in edgewise. "And I...She _was_ alive until...She was hit by a car yesterday, and died at the hospital."

The second silence made the first one seem short. Satomi put her hand over her mouth in horror. My body began trembling. Just when I had hope that I could actually meet my mother...This had to be some kind of cruel joke. I had to get away from both of them. My father, the woman who was trying to replace my _dead _mother...

"Kouji! I'm not finished!" Dad put a hand on my shoulder as I turned to the stairs. I gave him the deadliest stare I could.

"_Don't touch me_."

Dad blinked, but he didn't take his hand off me. I brushed his hand off and was about to start walking towards the stairs, but Dad moved around to block my path.

"It would've been easier if I'd lied to you again, but now I have no choice. The reason I'm telling you all this is because there's another thing I lied to you about. Kouji, you have a twin brother."

He pulled the picture he'd been holding in front of my face. Sure enough, there were two identical toddlers on a swingset in it. I stared at it in shock.

"You weren't named after your grandfather on your mother's side, his name was Satoshi. We named your brother Kouichi and you Kouji... 'First light' and 'second light.' When we got divorced, we split you two up. Now that your mother's gone, we're the only ones Kouichi has left, so he'll be coming to live here..."

"Kousei..." Satomi started, her voice shaking. I ignored her.

"That's wonderful, isn't it? Another son you can force to call the woman you married 'mother.'" I pushed past him and stomped upstairs.

"Kouji!"

"I'm done here. Unless you have any _more_ lies you want to tell us." I could hear Satomi yelling at Dad, but I couldn't hear the words. Maybe they'd get another divorce or something...It wouldn't bother me. Then I wouldn't have to deal with Dad making me call her "Mom."

I closed the bedroom door behind me and slumped down on the bed. As I did I saw that rotating frame with the picture Dad had taken of the three of us a few months ago. That was the _last _thing I wanted to see. I flipped over the picture frame to see the old picture of my mother Dad had given me. What did I feel knowing she was alive until yesterday? Sure, I felt sad but I was angrier at Dad for not telling me she was still alive. What kind of son _was _I? I couldn't even bring myself to cry for her passing because I didn't even really _know_ her. I sighed and closed my eyes.

There was a knock at the door.

"Kouji, I'm leaving the box with the pictures of you and your brother outside the door. There's some of your mother in there, too. I'm going to be out for most of the afternoon...I need to arrange your mother's funeral, and pick up Kouichi. If you want to come just say so."

The sound of Dad's footsteps faded away. I stared at the picture some more. Mom always had such a sweet smile in the pictures...Dad had said the box had some pictures of her, right? I reluctantly pulled myself away from Mom's picture and opened the door long enough to admit the box. The album on top held a lot of pictures all lined up and organized...And probably dated on the backs the way Dad liked doing it. I flipped through the pages of the first album, then having finished it I started the next one, seeing the twin babies turn into toddlers. Which one was me, and which was the brother I had never known? It was impossible to tell in those pictures.

What could I say about my brother? He'd been living with Mom all this time, and it wasn't his fault my father had lied about the fact that my mother had been alive, no more than it had been his fault Mom had died. Still, that didn't mean I had to like him. In fact, in my eyes he was the lucky one. He never had to mourn the death of a parent who was still alive, and he had never been forced to accept a replacement for that parent.

I stopped in the middle of the fourth photo album at one of Mom with the two of us at a pond feeding some ducks. Had she known Dad would tell me she'd died? Was that why she had never tried to see me?

"Kouji? I made you some lunch." I glared at Satomi as she opened the door. "It's downstairs if you want it."

I hadn't realized how long I'd been looking through the pictures. My stomach growled, fueling my bad temper. I sighed and got up to follow Satomi down the stairs.

"We're going to put Kouichi in the guest room across from yours. Your father's renting a moving truck and he's called Akira from work to help move your mother's stuff into storage while we decide what to do with it..."

I just let Satomi keep talking while I ate, since I wasn't in the mood to waste breath telling her to stop.

"What do you think he's like? Kousei says that he was really shy and quiet, and that he'd usually let you do all the talking, but that was a long time ago...So he's got no idea what Kouichi's like."

I tried not to roll my eyes at how insufferably sunny she sounded. She'd just found out her husband had lied to her for _years_, and hours later all she could think of was what my brother was like. She was so simple. I got up.

"Kouji?"

"Can I take this outside?"

It galled me to have to ask her for permission like that, like I was some little kid instead of a fifth grader. That unfortunately had been what had started an argument with Dad four days ago, and Dad was one of those people who'd ground someone for leaving the table without permission. Since I had no intention of getting grounded, I had no choice.

Satomi just smiled that perky smile of hers. "Sure, go ahead."

Raiko joined me when I got outside, her nose twitching as she anticipated a free meal. I put the plate down on the picnic table, where Raiko couldn't get it and started eating again. Eventually she gave up trying to get my food and lay down on the ground.

"At least you know when to quit," I said getting out off the seat to kneel beside her and scratch the pointed ears. Raiko's tail started thumping on the ground.

"Well, may as well make it worth your while." I held up a piece of meat and placed it on her nose. "Ready? Set...Go!"

Raiko swiftly snapped up the meat, making me chuckle a bit. The first bit of happiness I'd felt the whole day, I realized as the chuckle faded away. Funny how the only "person" in my family that could do that was Raiko.

Since the little bit of meat I'd given Raiko was the last bit, I picked up the plate to take it back inside. I could hear Satomi thumping around upstairs, probably cleaning out the guest room. Well, at least I could avoid her easily this time. I went to the living room long enough to pick up Raiko's leash. She needed a walk as much as I needed to get away for a while. Preferably for a _long _while.

I spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between lying on the bed thinking about my mother and looking at those old photo books. At one point I got bored enough to pull the guitar up and try practicing it a bit...Not that I knew many songs. I'd only taken a few lessons back when we lived at that last place. Still, it was something to do that didn't involve talking to Satomi. That made it worth it.

Dinner was very similar to lunch. The only difference was that Satomi wasn't quite so chatty...Which was the only reason why I didn't try to take my meal to my bedroom.

It was just past nightfall when I heard first Raiko's barking announcing Dad's return, then the sound of people moving up the stairs. My father's voice was distinctive, even if the words he used weren't. A minute later, I heard him knocking on my door.

"Kouji...? We're back. I know you're mad at me. You've got every reason to be, but you should probably come out and meet your brother."

Interacting with my father was the _last _thing I wanted to do. I glared at the door wishing that looks actually could, if not kill, then stun at least.

"We're going downstairs for dinner. Don't forget to let Raiko back in after we're done eating."

Satomi must've moved her out back again...I scowled down at the photo album I'd been looking at. It was hard to think of this Kouichi as an actual person, let alone a brother, rather than some face on a picture. Now he wasn't just a picture, he was going to be living here...He _knew _her. He'd been living with her all this time. I wondered if Mom had told him about me? Should I go down and talk to him? Would he be willing to talk about Mom?

Would I be willing to talk to _him?_

Eventually I decided I had to go down. Not for Dad or Satomi, or even Kouichi...I had to let Raiko back in.

Dad and Satomi were both downstairs, but it was the boy sitting between them that caught my attention. He looked a lot like me. The only real difference was that his hair was shorter, stopping just above his shoulders at its' lowest. He looked up as I came in, giving me a glimpse of a slightly pale face with red-rimmed eyes the same color as mine, then swiftly transferred his glance to the table in front of him.

"So, Kouichi, I'd like to know what your mother was like, if that's okay. Can you tell us?" Satomi wasn't very good at being subtle.

"She's...Was..." The boy's voice wasn't very loud. I had to strain a bit to hear. "She was strong. It wasn't easy, we only had the two of us...She worked so hard to keep us going. Mom...Everything she did, it was for me. She never thought of herself, didn't like it when I made a big fuss for her birthday or when she was sick...She...I..." His voice wavered a bit and he stopped.

"You really miss her." Satomi put her arm around him. I turned and went to the back door to let Raiko in. His mother..._My _mother. She had cared about _him_, but what about _me? _All I'd got was a father who lied to me, and an inferior replacement for my mother. And Raiko. Probably the only one in the house who was acting like she was happy to see me. I released her leash and she happily bounded into the house and began barking at Kouichi.

"H-Hello." He raised a hand for Raiko to sniff, then she barked again and headed for her food dish.

"Kouji, come meet your brother," Dad said. I stiffened and the boy in front of me also froze, eyes dropping to the floor again. What could I say to him? _Should_ I say anything to him? It wasn't his fault everything had turned out like this. I glanced at Dad and Satomi. They were both tensed up. What did they expect me to do? Take it all out on him?

What kind of monster did they think I _was_?

"You can relax," I said, more to Dad and Satomi than to Kouichi. "I don't hurt anyone who can't defend themselves." I turned and walked away.

"Kouji!" Dad exclaimed. "Is that all you have to say?"

"What?" I demanded. "What am I supposed to say to a brother I was never told about? Maybe if you hadn't told me my mother was _dead_, I'd have had more to say. Instead, you make me call a woman that's not even related to me 'mother.'" I let some of the contempt I felt leak into my voice. "Good idea, Dad."

"Look, Kouji I told you I was sorry about not telling you two earlier," Dad retorted. "But I'm not the only one who lied. Your mother didn't even tell Kouichi he had a brother."

"At least _she_ didn't tell him you were dead and got married again!"

"No, but I'm trying to tell you that your mother was as human as anyone. She made mistakes the same as I did. Maybe she didn't quite dig herself into a hole as big as I did..."

I just snorted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Satomi and Kouichi walking towards the living room.

"But she did almost the same things. The divorce hurt both of us too much to ever talk to each other, let alone see each other, and we all suffered because of it."

"Yeah, and you just stood by and let me suffer, thinking my mother was dead for the past nine years."

"Look, Kouji...Tomorrow morning I'm taking Kouichi to his home to move his stuff here and to put your mother's stuff into storage. Would you like to come?"

I stiffened. "Of _course _I'm coming. I want to see what my mother's life was like before you pack it all up in boxes and stuff it in storage. Because I sure didn't get to see too much of it while she was _alive_."

"Kouji, I...I won't make any excuses, all right? I just want to make sure you won't take out all your anger at me on your brother. He's got nothing to do with my lies."

"I'm not stupid, Dad. Just keep him out of my face and I won't hurt him." I turned and headed to the living room. As I did, I noticed someone had left a book on the book on the table by the couch. It had to be Kouichi. Dad and Satomi knew that Raiko liked chewing things, and she wasn't the kind to stick to her toys. Raiko was already sniffing at it. I didn't feel the need to clean up after her, so I picked up the book and carried it back upstairs, almost bumping into Satomi as she left the bathroom.

"Oops, sorry Kouji."

I glared at her.

"Kouichi's taking a bath, but I think he'll be out soon. He looked pretty tired."

I didn't want anything to do with her, so I pushed by her and back into my room. I could give Kouichi back his book and tell him about Raiko's tendency to chew things she wasn't meant to later. A glance at the book revealed that it was a library book, making me even more relieved I'd picked it up before Raiko could get her teeth around it. One of those sword-and-sorcery fantasy books. I sighed and put the book down on my bed before sitting down. This whole day had messed up my schedule pretty badly. I needed to do some homework before I forgot. It wasn't until I was done that I remembered the book.

Kouichi's door was closed; I'd only intended to put the book in his room, maybe tell him about Raiko if he was still awake. He was lying on the futon, with the pillow on his face. An occasional hiccup and sob escaped from under the pillow.

He was crying.

Well, that made sense. His mother had just died, after all...Of _course_ he would be crying. I wondered if maybe I should get Satomi, since she was probably better at this sort of thing than I was. Then again, he was the one who was trying to hide his tears. I wondered if I should ask him. I frowned, debating whether or not I should do something, and if so what to do, then finally moved over to kneel at his side, gently pulling the pillow out of his hands. His eyes cracked open.

"M-Mom..."

I froze. Of all the things he could have said to me, that was the _last_ thing I was expecting. Kouichi's eyes closed, but I didn't move for a couple of minutes listening to his breathing gradually slow down. He was asleep. I took a deep breath and looked down at the pillow I still held, then gently put it under his head, with the wet side down. Then I pulled the blankets over him and left his book by his side.

On the way out, I saw Satomi coming up the stairs.

"Kouji, is Kouichi asleep yet? I wanted to make sure he was okay sleeping by himself..."

"He's asleep." No sense getting her involved in Kouichi's problem. "He left his book downstairs where Raiko could get it, so I just put it back in his room."

"Oh. Well, if you need anything I'll be in my workroom, okay?"

I nodded, then went back to my bedroom. The encounter with Kouichi weighing on my mind. Thinking about it, it made sense that, in the dark and on the verge of exhaustion, he'd mistaken me for his mother. I did look like her, after all. I turned to look at her picture.

What had she thought of me?

**Author's Note: Here we go again...It's a LOT harder for me to write Kouji's view than Kouichi's, since I have less in common with him. So yeah...There's gonna be some overlap between this fic and "At the End of the Day." I'll try not to do it too much. The title also comes from Les Mierables, the same song as the first one. And yes, apparently they do have to do homework during summer vacation...At least, according to the all-knowing internet they do. Speaking of Japan, I've got Anime Boston in just under a week, so I need to get the second chapter up before then. Anyways thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning I could see a large moving truck outside the window. I guessed it to be the one Dad was going to rent to move Mom and Kouichi's stuff. Before we left however I had to make sure Raiko got some exercise. I came back in to hear my father's voice in the kitchen.

"I've also got a co-worker of mine coming over to help with the heavy stuff. You boys can pack stuff into boxes, and we'll probably get this done in a few hours. I'm going to sell the furniture off and use the money from that to buy you a new bed. Can't have one son in a bed and the other in a futon."

I scowled down at the shoes I was taking off. Unfortunately I'd have to put up with _him _during the move.

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Your mom's...Funeral..." Dad trailed off awkwardly before resuming.

"...Normally it's the relatives of the person who died who pick out the bones from the ashes, but you've been through a lot, and I wanted make sure you were up to it..."

He hadn't said anything to me about Mom's funeral. I clenched my hand tighter around Raiko's leash and entered the kitchen. Dad, Kouichi, and Satomi were at the table evidently in the middle of breakfast.

"Are you going to leave me out of it again?" All three of them turned to look at me. "You've kept me away from my mother for so long, why stop now?" Raiko slipped past me and headed for her food dish.

"Kouji, I was going to ask you to do it too. Every time I tried, it always turned into an argument and I forgot to mention it, okay?"

"Sure. Just like you _forgot _to mention I have a brother..."

"Let's not start this again, okay Kouji? Do you want to pick the bones out of the ashes?"

"That's the only thing I can do for her now, isn't it?"

"Right," Dad turned to Kouichi. "What about you, Kouichi?"

He froze. I don't think the possibility of a funeral had even occurred to him. I felt some sympathy for him there. After all, _nobody _could've predicted this would happen, especially not him.

"You don't have to answer right away," Dad said when he didn't immediately answer. "I scheduled the funeral for tomorrow night, you can think about it until then."

I glared at Dad again, then went up to my room.

I didn't bother coming down until it was time to leave. On the way I noticed that Kouichi had once again left his book downstairs. I _really _had to tell him about Raiko...I quickly picked the book up and put it upstairs in his room before Raiko could find it, noticing that Kouichi wasn't there. In fact, he was already outside, dressed in my clothes. Not that I minded that. He apparently hadn't brought more than the clothes he'd worn yesterday and those books, and since Satomi had been doing laundry earlier, I guessed she must've thrown his clothes in, too.

Kouichi and Dad were both waiting for me by the truck. I wasn't all that happy with Dad's presence, but since he was the only one there who could drive besides Satomi, there wasn't exactly any choice. I didn't waste any time interacting with him, and got into the truck. A minute later, the others followed. Kouichi quietly slipped in besides me, and reached for the seat belt. I glanced over at him as Dad got the car moving, He wasn't quite as pale as he'd been last night, and it looked like he'd at least washed his face after he woke up. Still, he spent the ride quietly avoiding eye contact, occasionally mumbling directions to Dad when he asked. I couldn't help thinking of things to say to him, but every time I tried, the thought of actually talking to him somehow frightened me. I can't really say if it was because he was my brother or because Dad was there with us...It just scared me.

My mother and brother had lived in a modest apartment complex. I recognized my father's co-worker, Akira Suzuki, standing on the sidewalk by the parking lot.

"Kousei, you made it! I was beginning to think that son of yours ambushed you." I snorted, recalling the sheer rage I'd felt at him the day before. He'd been very lucky I had standards, or else he wouldn't be walking.

Dad rolled down his window. "Not quite." Kouichi opened the door and hopped out. Akira noticed him, then me. His eyes widened.

"Kouichi, this is Akira, he works in the same firm as me. Akira, this is the other son I was telling you about."

Akira stared at Kouichi, who responded by staring down at the ground.

"It's nice to meet you." A quiet, polite murmur.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you had twins. Kouji could probably use him as a mirror." Akira didn't take his eyes off Kouichi, and it was increasingly obvious Kouichi was getting unnerved by the staring. It showed in the tightness of his shoulders and the slight clenching of his fists. I stepped between the two of them.

"Why don't you leave him alone?"

"Kouji!" Dad clearly didn't approve of me talking back.

"No, it's okay," Akira finally took his eyes off Kouichi. "I was probably making him nervous. Anyways, it was number four, right?"

Kouichi nodded and headed for a nearby apartment. I watched him go with an odd feeling in my chest. Why had I done that? He'd been perfectly capable of telling Akira to mind his own business, or at least ducking behind the car...It wasn't like Kouichi really _needed _someone to get between him and Akira. It just...It _felt _like something I needed to do. I don't know how else to put it.

The door of Kouichi's apartment had the family name of Kimura on the name plate. So, that was his family name. Mom's, too. They were probably going to need boxes...And Dad would have put them in the back of the truck. I opened the back of the truck, grabbed the nearest stack of boxes, and almost fell over. I was going to have to split them up. I was in the process of turning to put them down so I could do just that when someone else took the boxes from the other side. I glared around them, expecting Dad or Akira, but it was Kouichi who held the other end. He didn't say anything. His eyes flicked to mine nervously, and I couldn't help relaxing a little. Maybe it was because he didn't try to talk to me...Or because he looked so much like me. Either way, I wasn't stupid enough to refuse help when I kind of needed it.

Kouichi's apartment was small, but pleasant. I couldn't see much of it around the boxes I held however. Kouichi seemed to be carrying the box into a bedroom, but he faltered and stopped. I could feel his hands shaking around the box. He was most likely thinking of his mother. I stared at him for a second before gently nudging the box into his stomach. He blinked, then shuddered and continued into the bedroom.

We put the box down just inside, and I took a good look around. It was really strange, to know that my mother had lived here all this time...That _they _had lived here. I moved over to Mom's half of the room to take a closer look. The nearby dresser was covered in pictures of both of them, sometimes an older woman joined them. I wondered who she was. My grandmother, maybe? They both looked so happy...Jealousy flared in my mind. Kouichi was so lucky. He got to spend time with Mom. They clearly loved each other...What did I get? I shook my head. It wasn't _his _fault our parents had got divorced, and I was sure that if he'd found out about me he would have tried to bring me to see her. I stepped over to the closet where two or three uniforms, clearly intended for a job of some kind.

"What did she do for a living?" Those were my first words to him, I realized belatedly.

"She worked at a doctor's office as a secretary." The words were soft, and ended abruptly, like he didn't want to talk about it. I glanced over to see him taking books off a nearby bookshelf and putting them in one of the boxes. Were those his books? Probably. I grabbed another box and moved over to the next bookshelf. Most of them were the same kind of sword-and-sorcery books I had found at home earlier. The few that weren't were on different subjects ranging from birds of the world to a book on stars. Speaking of books...

"You shouldn't leave your books downstairs." He looked up at me in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Raiko. She likes chewing things...If we leave anything where she can get it, she'll usually end up chewing it. I don't want your books to get chewed up."

"Oh." He looked down again. "Sorry."

"Not your fault. Nobody had a chance to tell you yet."

We didn't speak much after that. After an hour or so of picking up Kouichi's things and putting them in boxes, Dad came in.

"Akira and I got most of the heavy stuff in the living room. We just need to take a quick trip to the storage place so we can have room for the rest of your stuff."

"Okay," Kouichi said.

There wasn't much more of Kouichi's stuff to pack by that point. Mostly clothes and the occasional book which had somehow found its' way into the living room.

"Guess we're doing Mom's stuff next." I glanced at Kouichi to see how he was holding up. He was paler than he'd been before, but beyond that he seemed to be doing all right. He clenched his fists for an instant, then went to the dresser and began pulling out clothes. I moved to the top of the dresser and began picking up the pictures. Mom and Kouichi had very similar smiles in the pictures, although his was shyer and a bit more lopsided than hers was. Warm and unforced. Unlike mine. Would I be smiling like that if I'd gone to live with her instead of Kouichi?

Would Kouichi be like me?

It took another hour to finish up the rest of the room outside of the closet. That one had a high shelf we couldn't reach, so by default that became the last thing. I watched Dad and Akira haul the dresser out. Kouichi put a picture of the older woman on top of the box containing his clothes. That left me holding Mom's jewelry box.

"I wonder if Satomi'd like Mom's jewelery? Some of those would look pretty good on her." He said those words in a offhand voice, like he really didn't care about it.

He _didn't _care, did he? Not only about the jewelry, but about what I thought.

"No."

"Huh?"

"You're trying to give _Mom's_ jewelry to someone who isn't related to us."

His eyes flashed dangerously, showing a previously hidden temper. "What d'you want to do, sell them? It's either that or wear them ourselves. I don't think wearing a woman's necklace is going to work very well, Kouji. I know we could keep them for any girls we marry or for any daughters we might have, but I just don't think Mom would've wanted them to just sit in a box for the next fifteen years!"

"She's not our _mom_!" How could _anyone _just give up their own mother's jewelry to a complete stranger? Especially one like Satomi.

"So what? I think _I'd _know what _my _Mom would want to do with her jewelry."

"She's _my_ Mom, too. Or have you already forgotten we're_ twin brothers_?"

Kouichi paled a bit, as the realization that he in fact _had _forgotten that hit him. He tentatively reached over to put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" The words and reflexive jerk that went with it were out of my mouth before I could think about them. All sound suddenly drained out of the room, and I didn't need to look at Kouichi's face to see the shocked and hurt expression.

"...I don't like being touched by strangers."

It was a pathetic excuse, and I knew it. Unfortunately it was also true. Kouichi was a stranger with my face, and he knew next to nothing about me.

Dad poked his head into the room, involuntarily breaking the tension.

"Boys? You finished in here?"

I glared at Mom's jewelry box. "Almost. There's only the closet left." Dad nodded, then went back to whatever he and Akira were doing. Clearing out the kitchen, most likely.

"Kouji, I..." Kouichi began, then took a deep breath. "You were right. I probably spoke too soon about the jewelry. She...She was _your _mother, too and you should get some say in where her stuff goes. I'm sorry."

He was not only apologizing but admitting he was wrong. He _did _care, after all.

"Apology accepted..." I turned to smirk at him. "...Big brother."

I mostly said that as a reminder that we were brothers, like it or not. Kouichi needed it as much as I did, I realized. He blinked, then looked down at the floor again, blushing a little.

"Anyways," he glanced around. "That pretty much leaves the closet. We'd better start on that."

It didn't take too long to empty out the bottom half of the closet. That just left the high shelf.

"How are we going to reach that?" I asked.

"I normally use a chair to reach high places, but I think Dad and Akira already took them..." Kouichi looked out the open door. "Yeah, they're gone."

"So, how do we do this?"

"Guess we're just going to have to ask for help..."

"I can get that high shelf for you." Akira walked in. I guessed that he'd seen what we were trying to do from the living room. He brought down an assortment of things, and finally a box from the back.

"There you go," he said and went back to whatever he and Dad were doing.

"What's this?" I asked Kouichi. His eyes narrowed in thought, and he opened the box. On top I could see an old picture album.

"I thought so." Kouichi picked up the album to reveal a bunch of unsorted pictures of the two of us as babies and toddlers, some old letters, and toys. I recognized a stuffed cat from the old pictures I'd been looking at the day before.

"This is..." My eyes widened as I realized what it was.

"This is what Mom kept of you. She really loved you, you know. She just didn't have the heart to tell me, I think."

I picked up the nearest loose picture and turned it over to see a picture of both of us in high chairs covered in sauce of some kind. Leave it to a mother to take such an _embarrassing _picture.

That was when Kouichi burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" He hadn't actually _seen _the picture, had he?

"Yo-Your face. You look just like M-Mom the...The time she made cake with salt instead of..." He got no further. That was the first time I saw him actually smile in person, rather than in a picture. He had a really aweet smile...

It took him a minute to sober up. "S-Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing...I'm sorry."

I wanted to see that smile again. It looked a lot like Mom's...

"You haven't seen the picture yet." I held the picture up to face him, which had the desired effect of setting him off again. The smile was infectious, and I found myself smiling and laughing a little, too. Something that hadn't happened with another human in a very long time. Dad, hearing the noise, poked his head in.

"Kouichi? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He wiped a tear from the laughter from his eyes.

Dad looked skeptical, but didn't say anything about the laughter. "We're just about done. Akira can drive you boys home so you can get something to eat while I finish up here, then I'll bring your mother's stuff to storage and Kouichi's stuff home."

"Okay." Kouichi stood up as Dad went back out. I put the picture back where it came from.

"I'll get the box," I said.

"You can keep it. It should be...It's yours, anyways. I don't really need it, I've got the real you, not some pictures."

I looked at him in surprise. That wasn't something I'd expected to hear. I'd thought he would want to keep the box, because it clearly meant a lot to Mom. Then again, he was right, he didn't need any baby pictures to be reminded of me. I looked down at the box again, as the silence between the two of us grew.

"Let's go. We've still got to _un_-pack your room, and I've got Aikido class later this afternoon."

"Aikido? That's like fighting, right?" I scowled slightly at the comparison of Aikido to fighting. My teacher would have thrown his backside to the mat for saying that.

"Sort of. I started taking up self-defense courses when I was six, and every time we moved I'd try something different," I turned to the door. "It was Dad's idea. I'm at least competent in four different styles of fighting. Still working on Aikido though. I take classes three times a week."

Akira was waiting at his car. "You boys ready?"

"Yeah." Kouichi was looking down at the ground again. He quietly slipped into the back seat of the car. I thought about joining him back there for a moment.

"Kouji, can you sit up front?" Akira asked. "I don't quite remember which street your place is on."

So much for _that _thought.

Once we got home, Satomi made us some lunch. We both ate it in relative silence, while Satomi tried in her own way to make Kouichi feel at home, by talking. A lot. I was tempted to take my lunch outside again, but since she wasn't talking to me but to Kouichi, I simply decided to ignore her. Kouichi for his part at least looked like he was listening to her, answering the occasional question with monosyllables. Then Dad got home with Kouichi's stuff just as we were finishing the food.

"Okay Kouichi, let's get your room set up."

My brother nodded and stood up to join him. I stood up, too.

"Kouji?" Dad sounded surprised. I pointedly ignored him.

"I'll help you unpack." Kouichi blinked, like he hadn't expected help. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dad and Satomi exchange glances. All three of them were probably shocked by my offer to help. To be honest, I didn't know the exact reason, either. Maybe it was because Kouichi had lived with Mom for all these years, so this would possibly be the closest I could get to seeing what her life was like. Or because Dad and Satomi were acting like I never helped anyone unless there was something in it for me.

The next two hours were spent hauling boxes from the moving van upstairs to Kouichi's new room. Once everything was inside, Dad left to bring the moving truck back to the rental company and it was just the two of us again. Kouichi moved the nearest bookshelf to the wall and opened the nearest box.

"I should probably set up a shrine for Mom somewhere where it won't be knocked down," he said softly.

"Are there any good pictures of her you can use?" I asked. "I have a few, if you want."

"I have some...There was one from last year when I used her camera for a while." He scrambled through the boxes and pulled out a photo album to flip it to a picture midway through. Sure enough, my mother smiled up at me from what looked like some kind of park.

"Yeah, that looks good."

"Thanks." Kouichi put the album back and went back to the box he'd opened. "Dad brought the side table...I'll probably put the shrine on that." He started pulling books out of the box and put them on the bookshelf. I stared at him for a moment, wanting to hear him say more about Mom, but I couldn't bring myself to actually talk to him any more. In the end, I settled for silently helping him unpack the books.

A half hour later, it was time to go to Aikido class. My mother and brother were still on my mind even as I started, which given the fact that I needed to be focused at that point wasn't a good idea. When my practice partner managed to throw me for the second time it caught my teacher's attention.

"Minamoto, you seem distracted today." Ms. Hashida crossed her arms. "Did something happen?"

I glared right back at her. "Family trouble."

"Thought so. Why don't you take a break for a while?"

Needless to say, I wasn't all that thrilled with being forced to sit out the rest of the practice session. To ad insult to injury, Ms Hashida kept me back when everyone left.

"Okay Minamoto, what kind of 'family trouble' are you having?"

I glared at her again, but couldn't think of any way out of it. Ms. Hashida didn't take evasive answers too well, and simply ignoring her would make her even angrier.

"I found out my father lied to me. My mother didn't die nine years ago, she divorced Dad, got hit by a car and died two days ago...And Dad didn't tell me I have a twin brother who's going to live with us from now on."

She didn't even blink. "Yes, I can see how that would leave you out of focus. What are you going to do about it?"

What _was _I going to do about it? "I don't know."

"What kind of person is this brother?"

"I've only known him for just over a day." I said that more sharply than I'd intended. Ms. Hashida simply raised an eyebrow.

"...He's quiet, shy. Likes books, misses Mom..."

"I see. He needs you, then."

"Huh?"

"His mother's dead and he misses her. He's all alone in a strange place with people he considers strangers. He needs someone to talk to, even if that someone's a brother he never knew."

I turned my gaze to the floor. He needed me? What did _I _have that Satomi or even Dad couldn't give him?

"Just talk to him, Kouji. He might surprise you. I expect you to be a bit more focused next time."

I sighed. "Right."

Dinner was pretty much the same as it normally was, barring the addition of Kouichi. Dad and Satomi talked while I just ignored them and ate my food. Kouichi didn't say very much either, but then again that was understandable.

"It was a bit of a hard time finding a used furniture store to buy Tomoko's furniture," Dad said gulping down his food. "Most furniture places_ sell _furniture, they don't buy it. But I found a nice place that not only buys and sells stuff, they deliver, too. Kouichi's bed will be here tomorrow afternoon."

"That's wonderful," Satomi said. "Have you ever slept on a bed before, Kouichi? Or just a futon?"

"Once or twice. Grandma had a bed, but when she died we sold it."

"I'd heard your grandmother died," Dad said in a sympathetic tone. "What happened?"

"It was a heart attack, just over a year ago." His eyes closed and I saw a slight shudder ripple through him. "I was at school, so I didn't see anything." I guessed his...Well, _our _grandmother to be the older woman in the photos Mom had had. I wondered what she had been like.

"She never liked me, but it's still sad to hear she's gone. She thought we both should've let you two visit each other, at least." Dad glanced in my direction as if hoping I was paying attention. I simply ignored him and kept eating. The quicker I was done with this, the sooner I could get away from them. Too bad I couldn't take my food up to my room this time. Dad would ground me if I tried. "If I'd known things would turn out _this _way, I'd have taken her advice, but at the time I wanted nothing to do with her or your mother."

"You should have," Satomi spoke up. "Even if you didn't love her anymore, Kouichi and Kouji are brothers. They're the ones that got the worst of the divorce."

"That's the way it always goes," Dad sighed. "It's easy to say in hindsight that we should've done something, but at the time...Well, let's just say feelings were running a little high."

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes.

"D-Dad?" Something in Kouichi's voice made me look up. Maybe it was because until now he hadn't actually tried to talk to Dad, just responding to anything he said.

"I decided...I want to pick...At the funeral, I mean. I...I want to help Kouji..." His voice shook and finally faltered. Was he really volunteering to do that? After all, he was devastated enough to cry himself to sleep last night, what was he trying to do?

"You want to help your brother pick your mother's bones from the ashes?" Dad asked. Kouichi didn't say anything, but nodded. "I think Tomoko would be proud to hear you say that, Kouichi."

He blushed and went back to looking at his meal. I glanced at him skeptically. Why would he want to do that? Was he trying to make up with me for that argument we had earlier?

When we finished, Kouichi went back to the couch with a book in hand. I waited until Dad and Satomi were busy with other things to ask him, mostly because I didn't want to be around either of them.

"Why are you going to help me? Are you trying to make up for that argument about Mom's jewelry?"

One eye peered out around the book he was reading.

"I didn't want you to do it alone, Kouji. She was your mother, but she was mine too."

I stared at him, trying not to show my surprise. He was using my own words against me. Come to think of it, he was right.

_I_ was the one who forgot we were brothers this time.

The eye disappeared behind the book again. I wanted to talk to him some more, say something, _anything_ but every time I tried I just couldn't think of anything to say. In the end I just wound up walking away again, mentally cursing myself as I did so.

A few hours later, I was just approaching the stairs to go up to my room when I heard Satomi's voice from the top of the stairs, just out of sight.

"...Meant to talk to you last night about this, but you were asleep when I checked in. Are you going to be okay sleeping by yourself tonight? I have a night light in the kitchen if you need it. Or I could ask Kouji if you can sleep in his room..."

Would I be willing to share my room with Kouichi? I didn't tolerate anyone besides Raiko in my room. Kouichi probably needed it though...

"I'll be okay," Kouichi's voice sounded a bit too enthusiastic for my peace of mind, but it kept him out of my room. "I could use the night light though. Thank you."

"I'll go get it. Just a minute." Satomi came within view going down the stairs.

"Oh, Kouji. Excuse me." She pushed by me and headed for the kitchen. I looked after her for a moment, then headed up the stairs myself. Kouichi's door was already closed, so he probably didn't want to be disturbed. I crossed the hall to the closet and went in long enough to grab a towel to take a shower.

Twenty minutes later when I walked back down the hall I couldn't help thinking about Kouichi. Satomi was probably right to be concerned about him. Kouichi wouldn't say anything, but it was obvious he was devastated by Mom's death. He was trying so hard to keep his grief from the rest of us that it was hurting him. I could feel it, somehow. Maybe it was because we were twins.

I looked over at Kouichi's room, then walked up to the door and pressed my ear against the crack. Sure enough, I heard the muffled sound of sobbing. I thought about getting Satomi for a minute, then decided that I was _not _going to drag her into what was obviously a family problem. She wasn't even family. Dad was out, too. He'd lied to me for so many years that I didn't trust him with anything at that point.

That left me...I turned and leaned against the door. What was it Ms. Hashida said? He needed me? How could he need anyone like me? I couldn't even bring myself to talk to him when he needed it the most. I turned and leaned against the door. Besides, she was his mother and they were close. He needed to cry over her death, right?

That didn't stop the nagging little voice in my head that wondered how I could do this to a sweet guy like him. Some brother I was.

I walked back across the hall to my room.

Kouichi occupied my mind after I went to bed. The guilt I felt over leaving him to cry alone, in a strange house kept me from getting any sleep. I finally couldn't deal with it anymore and went across the hall to Kouichi's room. He was sprawled across the futon, practically on the floor. His face was once again buried in his slightly soggy pillow. Unlike last time, he was fully asleep and didn't even stir as I pulled the pillow out of limp hands, or when I gently rolled him back on the futon. I pulled the blanket over him, as Ms. Hashida's words once again echoed through my mind. Kouichi needed me. He _needed _me...

Why couldn't I be there for him?

**Author's Note: I didn't have quite as much time as I thought I did to polish this story up due to multiple geek conventions. At least I'm having fun.**

**Writing this I discovered one small continuity error in the other 'fic. Kouichi goes from going to taking a shower to his room without a break. Let's just "ret-con" that a bit and say he was in fact coming out of the shower.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The morning after the funeral was cloudy, but there didn't seem to be any threat of rain as I walked Raiko. That was good enough for me to actually get some practice in before I had to go to Aikido class. I walked out into the backyard and took a deep breath, trying to clear my mind. It was an uphill battle.

The problem, of course, was Kouichi. I had to find some way to talk to him about how much he was hurting over Mom's death. I remembered the way his hands had trembled when he'd picked Mom's bones out of the ashes. That had been the only part of the funeral which he hadn't cried, and then I thought that was more due to shock than anything else.

I started going through my moves, not just Aikido but all the other martial arts I'd picked up over the years. I'd spent the beginning part of the funeral moving around, trying to find what Mom had been like. I found out that like Kouichi had said, Mom had been a strong woman who'd never given up, and that she'd been close to him. Kouichi...Well, Mom's friends said that he was very much like her, although quieter and shyer. He had the same kind of inner strength. There was a downside to wandering around though. People who hadn't seen Mom or Kouichi in longer than a year kept mistaking me for him.

My brother on the other hand spent most of the funeral that didn't directly involve himself sitting in a chair looking down at the floor wiping tears from his eyes. Dad and Satomi had been with him at first, but as the evening had worn on they had eventually drifted off for some reason or another. Eventually I got tired of being mistaken for Kouichi and wandered a bit closer to him, reasoning that the people who knew Mom couldn't mistake me for Kouichi if he was right there.

I stumbled a bit in my warm-up, stifling a curse. I wasn't supposed to be distracted by my brother, but try as I might I couldn't help remembering how pale he'd looked yesterday. Especially when that one guy had come over and had asked him if he'd seen the body. Maybe I couldn't bring myself to talk to my brother, but the least I could do...The _only _thing I could do for him...Was protect him from anyone hurting him any more than he already was.

The look of quiet gratitude on Kouichi's face when I'd told the guy to get lost had been all the encouragement I'd needed, and I'd stayed at his side for the rest of the funeral to make sure that the guy hadn't returned. Kouichi hadn't objected to my being there, although he did shoot me a couple of mildly exasperated looks, particularly when the teenage girl who had been the one behind the wheel of the car that had killed Mom had come up to him.

Why was I still thinking about Kouichi? I needed to _focus_. I started going through my warm-up a little faster. Kouichi...He'd been so pale at the end of the funeral. Exhausted, too. He'd nearly fallen asleep on the drive back. He woke up a bit when the car stopped long enough to politely refuse Dad's offer to carry him inside, then slumped upstairs and to bed. Dad had gone to check on him a few minutes later, and came back down to report that Kouichi was already asleep.

I missed another move and wound up flat on my backside. Why was my brother putting me so out of focus? I hadn't been this bad in _years_. Was it because he was willing to bury his suffering where we wouldn't see it? Or maybe because he'd got to spend all these years with a mother I'd thought was dead?

Was it because I couldn't be there for Kouichi when he needed it?

Maybe it was something of all three.

I sighed and pulled myself up to my feet. There wasn't much point in practicing if I couldn't concentrate.

"Kouji." Satomi paused in sweeping up the floor. "Kouichi's not feeling very good. He's got a mild fever, so he's resting on the couch. I think he just was too stressed from everything that's been going on."

I glanced at the living room. Sure enough Kouichi was lying under the couch under one of Satomi's light blankets with a book in hand. _Stressed from everything, _she'd said. The one person he depended on dying, forced to live with strangers who were his family. Crying himself to sleep several nights in a row, too exhausted to do more than stagger into bed last night...I was amazed he'd only now gotten sick.

Where was I when he needed me?

And even then I couldn't bring myself to disturb him. I slipped quietly around the living room and up the stairs to my room. I didn't need to look at him to know how pale he was, or how tired he felt.

An hour later, Satomi knocked on my bedroom door.

"Kouji, I have to run some errands for a while. Can you keep an eye on Kouichi while I'm gone? He's asleep, but that aspirin I gave him is probably starting to wear off, so I want to make sure he's got another dose."

He was asleep, huh? If he was asleep, he wouldn't notice I was there. I opened the door.

"Kouji?" Satomi looked surprised, like she hadn't expected me to do anything for her. She was right, I wasn't doing it for her I was doing it for Kouichi. I ignored her and started down the stairs. Satomi followed me down, evidently guessing that I'd agreed to watch him.

"The aspirin is on the table next to him, and the thermometer too. I've got soup on the stove if either of you get hungry. You just have to heat it up in the microwave if you get hungry..." She paused, a bit flustered. "Anyways, thank you for doing this, Kouji. I really appreciate it. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Satomi went to grab her stuff and put on her shoes. I watched her go, then walked over to the shelf with all the movies on it. I had to have something to do while I sat with Kouichi, after all. Most of the movies were science fiction, one of the few things Dad and I had in common. Which one would my brother like? Going by his taste in books, he preferred fantasy...Strange worlds, fantastic beasts, sword fights, and a mystical ability that was like magic. One of my favorite movies had just that, even if it was technically science fiction. _Hoshi no Taisen_..."Star Wars."

_Perfect_.

I put the movie on and sat down on the floor with my back against the couch. Just as the heroes were escaping the Death Star, Raiko came over and sat down next to me. I reached out to scratch her ears. A few minutes later, I heard Kouichi stirring behind me.

"What's this?" His voice sounded a bit weak, probably from his fever. I thought about getting up and leaving for my room, then decided it could wait until the movie was over.

"_Hoshi no Taisen_. It's an American movie, they call it 'Star Wars...' I know there's a Japanese dubbed version, but I just like hearing it in its' normal language better."

"Saw it once. When I was a little kid, Mom took me to see the movies...The end of the second one scared me, and I never got into them...It's probably not as scary as I thought it was."

How could anyone be scared of _Hoshi no Taisen_? "It's not scary at all. It's my favorite movie."

"I was scared of a lot of things as a little kid, okay?"

I didn't reply. Would he have been scared like that if our parents hadn't divorced and I'd been there for him? I had no idea. A few minutes passed. The heroes started the climactic battle.

"Satomi went out to run some errands," I finally said. "She asked me to keep an eye on you until I had to go to Aikido class. She also left some soup on the stove if you're hungry."

"That's very sweet of her." Did I detect some resentment in his voice?

"D'you need any aspirin? Satomi said the one she gave you would wear off soon."

"I'm fine."

The shaky voice didn't sound _fine _to me. I looked at him, seeing the pale, slightly sweaty face and slightly too bright eyes. And here he was saying he was _fine_.

"I'll let the thermometer decide that." Satomi said that the thermometer was on the table, right? I rose to pick it up and put it under Kouichi's arm before he could object. He glared at me, but didn't take it out. Sure enough, after I pulled the thermometer out it registered a temperature a couple of degrees above normal.

"You're still sick. You should take another aspirin now."

I half expected him to refuse. Certainly the expression on his face clearly showed his rebellion. He didn't, however. I sat down on the floor again, and we were both silent again, although for different reasons. Kouichi probably just didn't have the energy to talk. I however couldn't think of anything to say. What _could _I say? "I know you're feeling bad because Mom died, now stop it?" That would _not _go down very well.

The movie finished, and once again the thought of leaving for the safety of my room crossed my mind. Then again, Kouichi was sick and probably shouldn't have been left alone...And Satomi wasn't back yet. Besides, I still had about an hour until I had to go to Aikido class. I decided to stay there a while longer, and moved to put the next movie in the series on. As the opening theme started up, Kouichi spoke up.

"You don't have to wait here with me. I'll be okay."

I glared at him. How could he say that? How could he say he was okay when he clearly wasn't?

"Wasn't that what you told Satomi the other day?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

"You told Satomi you were just fine. You have an annoying tendency to not speak up when you're suffering."

His eyes widened. "I...I didn't want to cause any more trouble. I don't usually get sick..."

I snorted. "Seriously, _I_ cause more trouble than you do, Kouichi. And..." Ms. Hashida's words echoed in my mind. He _needed _me. He _needed _someone to talk to. "...I haven't known you for very long, but I know you're suffering. I can feel it. We're connected, because we're twins."

He looked down, but didn't say anything.

"Besides, ever since the first night I've heard you crying at night," I pressed on. "It's a wonder you weren't sick earlier with all that crying you were doing. I should've done something earlier," I gently brushed some hair out of his eyes. "Slept in your room maybe...Or told Satomi you were crying, but I couldn't. I didn't want to get close to you. I didn't know anything about being a brother...And I was jealous that you had Mom all these years."

The eyes closed. "Everything Mom did, she did for me...She worked long hours so I could be happy. I didn't want her to worry about me. She was the same way."

"That explains a lot." If he was raised by an overworked mother, it made sense that he'd try to be as..._Unobtrusive _as possible. It explained his modesty, and why he was trying to keep the rest of us from worrying about him...Because our mother had done the same thing to him. All of a sudden I felt bad for envying him his time with Mom. In a way, he'd had it worse than I had, even _before _Mom had died.

"When Mom died and I came here...I felt like I'd somehow caused all this to happen. Even though I _knew _it wasn't true. Every time you'd argue with Dad...I felt like it was my fault. That's why I didn't want to make things worse by telling anyone how I felt."

I turned to face the TV again, wrapping my arms around my knees. "You can cry in front of me any time, big brother. I promise it won't burden me."

"I'd take you up on that offer, but I think I'm still all cried out from the funeral."

I snorted in amusement. "Given how much you've been crying lately, I'm not that surprised. Seriously, you aren't a burden. So don't go thinking you_ are_."

"I'll try."

Since the movie was on, I couldn't resist saying one of the more famous quotes. And since we were watching the English version, I said it in that language.

"Huh?"

I turned long enough to smirk at him and point at the television. "A line from the movie. Translates to 'do or do not, there is no try.'"

He actually laughed at that. A sweet sound that somehow made the last few hours worth the wait.

A half an hour later, Satomi got home, carrying several grocery bags.

"Kouichi, are you feeling better?"

"Some. I think my appetite's coming back." That was a good sign. His voice also sounded a bit stronger.

"That's a relief," Satomi leaned over to put a hand on his forehead. "You're definitely_ looking _better, at least. Kouji, thank you for watching him."

I waited until she turned away from me to smile at him.

"I have to go to Aikido class soon,. You get some rest, big brother. You're probably a good patient, but I'd rather not have go through all_ that _again."

He smiled back, that warm shy smile. "I will."

I had been a bit reluctant to go to Aikido class, not only because of leaving Kouichi alone, but because I'd had such trouble practicing that morning. In the end it turned out just fine. It was obviously because of that little talk Kouichi and I had had earlier. Ms. Hashida didn't say anything about it until the end of class.

"I see you're over your family troubles," she remarked pleasantly as the others put on their shoes and got ready to go.

"Yeah," I put on a shoe. "I talked to him for a while, and I think we're both doing better because of it."

"You should bring him here someday. Even if he's not interested in Aikido, I'd like to meet him."

I looked at her. "I'll ask him. I think he'd like to meet you, too."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning I learned something else about my brother: It was very hard for me to refuse anything he asked. Oh, he didn't actually _ask _for anything that often, but when he did all he had to do was say "please?" or "just this once?" with that shy smile and I could never find it in me to say "no."

That was how I somehow wound up going to the library with him and Satomi. I don't actually mind libraries, it was going with the woman my father married that got on my nerves. I was in fifth grade, I didn't need a chaperone. Also to a lesser extent I don't like going to libraries for any reason other than schoolwork. That and staying for a long time. I not only ended up going there with Kouichi and Satomi, I found myself staying there for over an hour because of Kouichi. Still, he clearly enjoyed being there. I could see his eyes light up whenever he came across a book he liked. It made me smile, even when I was bored out of my skull.

I was going to wait until I actually _had _Aikido class to ask Kouichi if he wanted to see where I took classes, or if he was interested in meeting Ms. Hashida. Satomi was the one who pointed out that the library and Aikido studio were within a block of each other, and as long as we were in the area maybe Kouichi would like to see where I went. Even though I pointed out that I didn't have class that day and the studio would likely be closed for the day, Satomi was too enthusiastic about showing my brother how I lived my life to listen.

And it turned out I was right. Satomi was somewhat disappointed until Kouichi quietly remarked that he would like to get home and read the books he'd taken out of the library. I think if it wasn't for the fact that he was trying to be polite, he would've pulled a book out and tried to read while walking. I wondered if he could do that without tripping...I'd never even tried, but then again I wasn't the kind of person who read a lot.

After we got home, the only times I saw my brother were quick glimpses through his open bedroom door curled up on the bed with the books he'd just got. At least until I tried practicing guitar. Then the door to his room quickly shut. I guessed big brother wanted to read without any disturbances. Kouichi was so absorbed in his book that Dad had to actually go upstairs and get him to come down to dinner after Satomi tried calling him several times. Dad has a rule that if everyone's home, we have to wait until everyone's there to start eating dinner. I wasn't sure whether I should have been amused that Dad had to go upstairs and get him or annoyed because I had to wait until he got down to eat.

Once he had come down, Kouichi once again ate his dinner quietly, answering any questions Dad and Satomi put to him with a quiet "yes" or "no." He let the adults do all the talking like he'd been doing ever since he came. This time however I found myself glancing at him occasionally. What had happened the day before hadn't been the end of my brother's grief over Mom's death. He still needed me.

This time I was going to be there for him.

With dinner over, Kouichi swiftly went back to his bedroom and the book he was reading. He left his door open though. I went to my own room long enough to pick up my homework, then crossed the hall and knocked on Kouichi's door frame. A startled eye peeked around the book.

"Is it okay if I do my homework in here, big brother? I won't disturb you, I just don't want you to be alone..." That hadn't come out right, I realized catching myself with a start. It sounded like I didn't trust him.

"Er...You can say 'no' if you want." I added quickly. The eye widened, but he nodded. I walked inside, closing the door behind me. I hadn't been in Kouichi's room since I'd helped him set it up...Had it only been three days ago? It felt more like an eternity. There were still some boxes left, mostly concentrated next to the door. Beyond that it was unpacked. I glanced at the shrine for our mother which was on a nearby table. Mom's face smiled up from that picture Kouichi had shown me the other day. I thought she would approve of what I was doing, and silently swore I wouldn't let Kouichi drown in his grief for her.

There wasn't any desk to actually _do _homework on yet, although Dad had plans to buy one with the remaining money from selling Mom's stuff...Even though Kouichi had protested that he didn't really _need _a desk, since he'd done most of his homework at his old library and could easily do it at his new one.

So that meant that the best place to do homework was the floor next to Kouichi's bed, something which suited me just fine since I'd already told Kouichi I wouldn't disturb him. I sat down with my back to the bed and started shuffling through my homework papers.

"Do I still need to do my homework if I'm transferring schools?" Kouichi had put his book down and was now looking down at me with a slightly worried expression.

"Not sure," I replied truthfully. "When Dad moved us, it was always in the spring, so I never had that problem."

"I should do mine...It'll give me something different to do." He got up and dug through a pile of papers on a nearby bookshelf, pulling out some textbooks and a packet of papers which was similar to mine.

"I've got a lot of catching up to do. It's been almost a week since..." His voice faltered a little. "S-since I last did my homework."

As he turned back to the bed Kouichi's eyes seemed a bit more distant, for lack of a better word. No doubt because his mother..._Our _mother was weighing heavily on his mind. Thoughts of saying something crossed my own mind, but even if I could think of something to say, that didn't mean it was something I _should _say and would've made it worse for him if I'd said it. So I stayed silent. There was a difference between this time and all the other times I wanted to say something but couldn't however. This time I wasn't just walking away. There was something else there, too...The fact that Kouichi was willing to not only think about the future but to get up and at least try to do something. He was stronger than some people would have been.

Kouichi brought the homework back to the bed and sat down on the floor a couple of feet away from me, in the same position. For a while, neither of us spoke much. I think my brother was too busy trying to concentrate on his homework and not on the events of the last few days to talk. I didn't have as much to do as he did, so I finished pretty quickly.

"D'you need help, big brother?"

"Only on math...I think I'll do that last."

"Math, huh? I'm pretty good at that. Here, let me see." I took the paper he handed me. "Yeah, I can help with that. It's just division."

"Easy for you to say, I stink at math."

I wanted to laugh at the frustrated expression on his face, but I didn't. Instead I gave him the help he needed to solve the problems. Kouichi was a bit of a stranger to math. The concepts went right over his head, and if it weren't for the fact that the teachers wanted him to show the process of solving the problems he'd have just used a calculator. Still, we made some progress during the next half hour before getting most of his math homework done.

"I think we can get the rest of it done tomorrow," I stood up and stretched. Bedroom floors were good for doing homework, but not quite as good for sitting on. I made a mental note to get some cushions or something the next time I tried this. I looked over at the bed to see Kouichi was already curled back up on the bed with his book. What should I do now? I didn't want him to be alone, but with my homework done I didn't really have an excuse to be in his room. Unless...

"Would you like to watch the last _Hoshi no Taisen _movie? We have it if you want...The second one ends in a bad spot."

The eye once again looked out from behind the book. "You can put it on if you want. I don't mind."

So much for bringing him downstairs to watch it...I couldn't bring the heavy TV upstairs, either. I thought about it for a minute, then remembered Satomi's laptop could play movies.

Satomi's laptop was down in her workroom. Satomi herself was sitting on the couch watching TV with Dad. I didn't think she'd notice her laptop was gone, so I slipped into her workroom, grabbed the laptop, then the movie itself and went back upstairs. With the laptop on and the movie playing, I took one more moment to go back to my room and pull the pillow off my bed.

This time I put on the version that was dubbed into Japanese, rather than the English subtitled version since Kouichi was watching, too. And he was watching, rather than reading. After the credits rolled, Kouichi put the book down and watched the movie with me. About ten minutes in, there was a knock at the door and Satomi stuck her head in.

"Kouichi, have...Oh, Kouji. _That's _where my laptop is."

"You don't need it, do you?" I was more annoyed with her for interrupting the movie than anything else. She was the kind of person who would do that.

"No, I was wondering where it was, that's all. Don't forget to put it back when you're done with it, okay?" She shut the door.

Not long after she'd gone I found myself having to use the bathroom. Since I didn't want to get in Kouichi's way, I crawled to the nearest bookshelf and pulled myself up. As I did I came to eye level with a picture of Kouichi, his mother, and the older woman who must have been my grandmother. I'd seen and heard a lot about my mother over the last few days, but I hadn't really heard anything about Kouichi's..._Our _grandmother, I reminded myself. After I'd finished with the bathroom and returned to Kouichi's room I wondered whether or not to ask him about her. Then again, he'd been through a lot these last days. It wouldn't be the smartest idea to make him think of the people he'd lost.

The struggle over whether or not to ask my brother about his grandmother lasted until the scene where the heroes left for the alien moon. I finally decided that asking him about what his grandmother had been like was probably not a good idea...But I wanted to know about her almost as much as I wanted to know about Mom. Besides, it probably wouldn't distress him as much as asking about Mom.

...I hoped.

"Hey..."

"Hmm?" I didn't turn to look at him, I was trying to figure out the best way to ask him.

"I've been wondering...What was your grandmother like?"

The silence lingered for a moment, then just as I started to kick myself for saying such a _stupid _thing my brother spoke.

"She wasn't like Mom...She could cook for one thing. She made better food than Satomi. And she liked birds. She'd always take me out to the park to look for them. Sometimes Mom would come too, if she wasn't busy or tired from work. I..." His voice faltered and stopped. Not a good sign. I turned to look at him He was half crouching on the bed, trembling. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. What was I thinking? Asking him about the people he'd lost, people he'd _loved_?

"You don't have to talk about her if it hurts," I said quickly, cursing myself for being curious and _tact_less. "I can wait..."

_"No!"_ Kouichi's normally quiet voice was sharp and loud. I hesitated, taken aback by the sheer intensity of that one word.

"I want to talk about Grandma, _and _Mom. I want to tell you everything _now_...I want to...I want..." A sob cut his words off. I scrambled to my feet as he slumped back down, unable to speak. And all I could do was stand there helplessly and watch him suffer.

Kouichi still _needed _me, didn't he? Why was I just standing there? Was it because I'd been the idiot who'd started this?

I'd promised Mom I wouldn't let my brother drown in his grief, hadn't I?

I climbed up on his bed beside him and tentatively wrapped an arm around the shaking shoulders, then pulled him to my own shoulder. For a moment his arms raised up like he was going to wrap them around me, but he evidently thought better of it, most likely remembering the time I'd snapped at him when we were moving his stuff. His arms sank again to hang limply at his sides. I could feel my sleeve quickly become damp, but I didn't release him.

"Th-thought you said y-you didn't like touching strangers."

"No, I said I didn't like it when _strangers _touch _me_."

It took a few minutes for either of us to speak again. Kouichi's sobs lessened, and finally stopped, and he just leaned on me.

"I want to tell you about both of them," his slightly raspy voice said from my shoulder. "I want you to _meet _them even more...Mom would have been so happy to see you. That's the worst thing...Knowing that you can't meet either of them. You deserve to meet them more than anyone..." He hiccuped a bit. "Sorry. I'm gonna make myself sick again crying like this. It's just that I'm so used to sleeping in the same room as Mom...I can avoid thinking about it most of the time, but at night when I'm alone I...I miss her even more."

"Is it okay if I sleep in here tonight?" I asked. "I know I'm not Mom, but at least this way you won't be alone."

He looked up at me, showing a weak smile in spite of the blotted tears on his face. "Yeah, thank you...Although you probably won't sound like Mom...She snored."

I somehow managed to keep a straight face. "Well, if I snore it never woke me up." I released him, a bit reluctantly. "I'll go get the futon. I'll be back."

Kouichi sat up. "I should go and wash my face."

"If you're doing that, I should stop the movie." I stepped over to the laptop to find the "pause" button.

"Maybe I should take a bath instead." He got up off the bed and went to a nearby drawer to pull out some pajamas. I nodded, then began looking for the place where the movie had been when Kouichi had broken down. I didn't want my brother to miss any of it, after all. Kouichi turned to leave, but then he stopped as he was going out the door.

"Kouji...Thank you. I...You..." He took a deep breath. "It's still hard, but you made it a bit easier for me."

Then he was out the door and gone. I stared at the empty space where he'd been a moment before. I'd been a brother for less than a week, I had _no _idea how to be a brother...And yet here was this boy telling me I was making his shattered life easier to endure. I shook my head. I still needed to get the futon.

Dad had put it in the closet downstairs after Kouichi's bed had come, so it wasn't too difficult to find. The problem was that the futon was bulky, and a little hard to pull out. I almost had it out when Dad and Satomi noticed my struggle.

"Do you need help, Kouji?" Satomi didn't ask me _why _I needed the futon, but then again it was probably a little obvious what I was trying to do.

"Here, let me get that." Dad got up off the couch and gave me a hand hauling the futon out.

"Thanks." I didn't really appreciate his help. After all, if it weren't for his lies we probably wouldn't _be _in this situation in the first place, but I wasn't so big an idiot to refuse help when I needed it.

"Kouji..." Dad put the futon on the floor. "How's Kouichi holding up? I know he's going through a lot but he doesn't talk to me very much, so it's a little hard for me to know how he really feels."

At any other time I'd have politely told him to mind his own business. This time however I looked up at him.

"He's devastated by all this, but he's..." I remembered that sweet smile he'd shown earlier. "He's also stronger than he looks...He's actually taking it better than I would have, if I'd been the one living with Mom."

"He always took after your mother more than me," Dad adjusted his glasses. "D'you need any help bringing that upstairs?"

"No thanks. I got it." I began hauling the futon up the stairs.

Twenty minutes later Kouichi came back into his room, now clad in light-blue pajamas. He crossed the room, moving around the futon, and sat down on the bed. By this point I had not only got the futon up but grabbed the blanket off my bed and a set of pajamas, although I wasn't quite ready to change into them.

"You ready to start again, big brother?" I asked.

He nodded. I pushed the "play" button on Satomi's laptop and leaned back against Kouichi's bed again. We watched the movie for a while longer.

"Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I'd like to hear more about your life with Dad...If that's okay with you."

"Dad?" I turned to look up at Kouichi in surprise. He was sitting on the bed with his arms wrapped around his knees.

"Well, he said you guys moved around a lot. I was wondering if you could tell me about the places you've been. Besides, I...Haven't really been able to talk to Dad. If I'm going to live here, I might as well learn about the people who I'm living with...Right?"

I looked down at the futon. "It's not exactly exciting, if that's what you're looking for."

"So? Neither was my life with Mom."

I got to my feet, pausing the movie again. "If you're gonna learn about Dad's side of the family, I may as well show you the photo albums. It'll make it easier."

Luckily Dad and Satomi were too caught up in their TV show to notice me coming down a _third _time. I grabbed two of the more recent albums and moved back up.

Kouichi was back to his book when I re-entered his room, curled up with the blanket on and his head resting on the pillow.

"I haven't even started and you're already tired," I said in an attempt to tease him as I put the albums down on his bed with an audible _plop!_

"Not tired. It's just more comfortable this way."

"Whatever. We should start soon, it's getting late...Give me a minute." I closed the door to his room and started changing into my pajamas. There was a startled choking sound behind me as I started lifting off my shirt and I turned to see Kouichi quickly rolling over to face the wall.

"Are you okay?"

"_Fine_." I noticed the visible ear turning red. Was he _blushing_? Honestly...

"We're both guys, you know. You don't have to turn away."

"I lived with Mom and Grandma. It's a bit hard for me to have other people get dressed in the same room."

"Oh." That would do it. Being the only guy in a family with all women must have been awkward, I reflected. I pulled the top part on and started buttoning it.

"You can look now. I'm done."

Still blushing a bit, he turned back over. I picked up the first album, then sat down with my back to the bed again.

"Can you see all right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, here goes. This was from two years ago..."

It wasn't something I would have done if Kouichi wasn't there. After all, the _last _thing I wanted was a reminder of the few friends I'd had and lost over the years before I'd given up altogether or the early days when my father started trying to make Satomi into my new mother. Kouichi was very interested in my past though, and listened to me talk with that sweet smile on his face. After a while I found myself enjoying his reaction to all the places we'd lived. It wasn't until I was nearly done with the first album that I found myself yawning.

"It's getting late, big brother. You should get some sleep..."

No response.

I looked up to see that Kouichi had already drifted off to sleep. Even then he still had that smile. I couldn't resist smiling back, even though I knew he couldn't see it.

"Good night, big brother."

I turned off the movie, which was just ending, then stood up to turn off the lights. I lay back on the futon looking up at the ceiling. A week ago I would have laughed at the notion that I had a brother. Now I listened to him breathe with a strange kind of satisfaction. How could Kouichi change my life so much in such a short time?

Was _this _what being a brother was like?

**Author's Note: Wow, I thought this chapter was gonna be short...Anyways, we get an actual new story this time. I've also got a bit more time to write, since the local conventions are over, so I get to write more. Now all I need are things to write about!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Of course, that wasn't the end to Kouichi's grief. He still broke down, usually in the night when he didn't have anything else to think about. As the days went by I got pretty good at telling when his grief was at its' worst. When his eyes seemed more distant, when he was even quieter than usual or shuddering for no apparent reason, when his eyes kept drifting to Mom's picture...That was when I would wind up sleeping in his room. Or, on the first time when I _didn't _notice the signs, he wound up coming into _my _room in the middle of the night with pillow and blanket, asking if he could sleep on the floor. I almost stepped on him the next morning.

Dad and Satomi took it in stride, although I heard Dad ask Kouichi if he wanted to move into my room permanently. Thankfully, Kouichi's response was that he actually enjoyed being able to shut the door on the rest of the world, for a while at least. So that idea was out.

I found myself growing more and more used to having my brother around. We spent at least some time together each day, usually at night doing homework, but also on the way to the library and Aikido class, or walking Raiko. Kouichi for his part was also adjusting pretty well, considering everything he'd been through. He didn't _bloom _as much as he didn't wrap up so tightly in himself. _Uncurled_, that might be a good word for it. I could coax him into talking about things in his old life that didn't involve Mom, like his old school or the kinds of books he liked.

Next to me, Satomi was the person Kouichi spent the most time with. They probably got along pretty well because they had something in common: They were both outsiders to the family. I found it to be annoying, since this was the woman who Dad had married to _replace _our mother, but I didn't directly object.

Kouichi's relationship with _Dad _on the other hand...Every time Dad would try to talk to my brother, he would look at anything _but _Dad, and only reply in monosyllables. Dad took this well, pointing out that Kouichi had every right not to want to talk to him. Satomi had responded to that by pointing out that Dad wouldn't be able to repair nine years worth of being absent overnight, but the mere fact that my father and brother were speaking to each other at all was an accomplishment to her at least, even if it did seem like baby steps.

For the most part Kouichi and I got along well. He was too sweet to really hold anything against any of us. That didn't mean the new life was all happiness and harmony though. There were times when we argued, usually over something small, like his math skills (Or rather, lack of math skills) or when I wanted to play guitar. His response to me practicing was nearly always going to his room and shutting the door...I'll admit I didn't really have time to take lessons anymore, but I wasn't _that _bad. We didn't exactly see eye to eye on Aikido, either. When I brought him to the class, he was politely refused Ms. Hashida's offer to teach him. That probably had more to do with the cost than anything else, so I offered to teach him myself. Once again he refused. Kouichi just wasn't interested in self-defense.

Kouichi was so quiet that even when we argued, him actually losing his temper was very rare. That didn't mean it didn't happen, as I discovered just over a week after we started interacting. I was out practicing Aikido that morning. Kouichi had been sitting on the bench outside watching me...Or rather _reading_, but the summer's heat had proved to be too much, and he'd gone inside. I wished I could join him, but the backyard was the only place with enough room to practice.

Just as I was finishing, I heard a loud cry of dismay from inside.

"_Raiko_! You..._Stop_! _Bad _dog!"

What had Raiko done? I'd never heard Kouichi get that loud...Normally he was so quiet that I had to actually listen to hear him. I went back inside to see my brother, looking like he was nearly ready to explode from anger towering over a guilty-looking Raiko. The slightly chewed-up book in front of her clearly spelled out what had happened.

"You left your book out again? I _told _you Raiko likes chewing things."

He rounded on me, eyes flashing dangerously.

"What was Raiko doing inside in the first place? She's _your _dog, you should have put her outside!"

"I needed to finish practicing first. I can't practice if she's running around me. Besides, _you _left your book where Raiko could get it."

"Why didn't you train her better? Couldn't you have trained her not to chew books?"

"We tried. She just sees books as toys, so it didn't work. It's not a library book, is it?"

Kouichi gave me a withering look. "My _grandmother _gave me that for my _birthday_."

"If it was so valuable to you, then why were you putting it where Raiko could get it?"

His eyes widened. "I..._Oooh_..." He then turned at stormed off to the stairs, stopping only to pick up his book. A moment later, I heard his door slam. I sighed.

"Okay Raiko, you get to go to the backyard."

Fortunately Raiko was too intimidated by Kouichi's outburst and our argument to resist like she normally did. Once she was chained up in the yard, I went up to my brother's room. He didn't respond when I knocked, so I opened the door. Kouichi was lying on his bed with his face buried in the pillow. Not crying this time, just...Upset.

"Hey..." I paused, unsure of what to say. "You okay?"

"Sorry." The voice was muffled from the pillow. "Didn't mean to blow up back there."

It took me a moment to find the book, lying on the floor across the room as if he'd thrown it in his temper. I picked it up.

"You were right...It was my fault," Kouichi continued, rolling over to look at me. "I was only gone for two minutes getting a drink...I didn't expect her to move that _quickly_."

I sat down on the edge of his bed. "I'll get you another copy of the book, big brother."

"You don't have to, she didn't chew it _that _much..."

"Well, she's my dog, isn't she? It's Dad's rule. I have to replace anything she chews up. I should have told you that earlier. At least it was a book and not something expensive...Well, for me at least. I'm sure it's priceless to you."

He stared at me, then that smile appeared on his face again.

"Thanks, Kouji."

I should count myself lucky that arguments with Kouichi were rare. More often Kouichi's normal reaction to anything that bothered him was to retreat to his room or the library, whichever place was more convenient. Once Kouichi had found the most comfortable routine, I noticed, it was a bit hard to get him out of it. I never knew him to say no to an adventure, however...Even if he usually went along to be polite.

Almost three weeks after our lives had all changed, Satomi decided that the time had come for some of that "family bonding" I dreaded.

"I was thinking," Satomi said as we ate dinner that night. "We need to do something as a family, and the boys need something good to happen before they start school. Why don't we all go to that new amusement park that just opened up?"

The thought of any "family" outing with the father who had lied to me for so long and the woman he married made me want to hit something.

Dad swallowed his food. "That sounds like a great idea, Satomi. I don't know if I have this weekend off though..."

Satomi's smile was quickly replaced by a look of exasperation. Dad wasn't a workaholic, but he did work a lot more than she liked. Dad backpedaled a bit.

"...I'll see what I can do. No promises, though."

Needless to say, I refused to go on the trip. Dad however was firm about it.

"Kouji, we're supposed to be a family. Why can't we act like one, just this once?"

"Because Satomi isn't even _family _and your lies kept me apart from the _rest _of my family until it was too late."

"Look at it this way...You can do this trip with us, or you can be grounded for the next month. No allowance, no phone, and no Aikido. It's your choice."

I glared at him.

"It's only for one day. Besides, I'm not sure if Kouichi's ever _been _to an amusement park. He'll probably enjoy it more if you're there."

The morning of our trip was clear and bright. And also incredibly _hot_. It was enough that I had to take off my jacket and tie it around my waist. I felt naked without it, but I was sweating with it on, so I had no choice there. What was even worse was that I had to take off my bandanna, too. Fast rides did not mix well with bandannas, or any other kind of head covering. At least I could fit my bandanna into my pocket. The heat did nothing to improve my temper however.

"What's the point of 'family bonding' if one person's not even _family _and another one spent almost ten years lying his son about the rest of his family?" I groaned as Kouichi and I waited in the living room for the adults. Raiko enthusiastically bounced around, no doubt thinking she was going on this trip. I managed to get her to stay by my side long enough to scratch her ears.

"Too bad we can't bring dogs to amusement parks..._Raiko's _more family than Satomi is."

Kouichi's face took on an odd expression, like he wanted to disagree with me. Before he could however Dad came down the stairs dressed for work rather than for a day at the amusement park, putting on his tie. Satomi trailed after him.

"I'm sorry Satomi, I told you I couldn't make any promises..."

"But Kousei, can't you just call in sick this once?"

"I used up most of my sick days dealing with Tomoko and Kouichi. I'd like to save the few I have left for real emergencies."

"But..."

"Satomi, you and the boys can go to Fun World without me. You said yourself they need something good to happen, right?" I snorted at that. I wouldn't call being forced to go out in public with the woman my father married _good_. Satomi faltered a little.

"I..."

"Bring home some cotton candy for me, all right?" Dad had to dodge as Raiko bounded around him. "Kouji, can you put Raiko outside? She's gonna try and make a break for it the moment I open the door."

I made a face. Bad enough that Dad was pretty much forcing me to go on this trip, but having to spend an entire day being chaperoned like I was some kind of little kid by my _step_mother? I wondered if I could persuade her to let us do our own thing once we got to the park without Dad knowing.

It especially didn't help that Dad had taken the car to work, leaving the rest of us to take the train to Fun World. The train's air conditioner had broken, making the ride even hotter, if it was at all possible. We were all covered in sweat by the time we got there, and I was seriously itching to take a shower. If it weren't for Kouichi, I'd have taken my chance with Dad's wrath and left Satomi there to go home. All he did was smile at me and say "this once?" What is it about that smile of his? In the end, the best I could do was not let Satomi go on the same car as the two of us.

If it weren't for my stepmother's presence, I'd have been a lot happier. Even with Satomi there however, I still enjoyed seeing Kouichi's face light up whenever we did something there. When he tried the American food, for instance. Or the moment he won that stuffed bear on the carnival shooting gallery after I missed it several times. I even managed to talk him into going on the park's largest roller coaster, something Satomi point-blank refused to go on. I think she and Kouichi both preferred slower rides, which was the main reason I went on them.

The sun was almost setting. Satomi suggested that we start heading towards the park's exit, having evidently had enough. Normally I'd have agreed with her mentally, at least. There was one ride we hadn't been on yet however: The enormous ferris wheel, The Mammoth. I wanted Kouichi to see it. I wanted to see his reaction to being so high up.

"Hey...Let's go on that one, big brother." I pointed to Mammoth once we were in sight of it.

"But Kouji, we're leaving..." I glared at her. Wasn't it Satomi's idea to come here in the first place?

"We can go after this one. C'mon, Kouichi." I turned and headed for The Mammoth. I could hear Satomi trying to object, then she and Kouichi conversing softly behind me, but it didn't matter. I was going to make sure my brother ended this farce of a "family outing" on a high note.

With his _real _family.

The Mammoth was popular enough that there was a long line for it. Between the line and the heat, I somewhat regretted my decision to go on it. The anticipation of my brother's face when he could see the entire park laid out under him without going on a very fast roller coaster was what kept me going. I noticed when we were midway through that they were only letting people on in groups of four. Sometimes the rider would leave groups of two or three people on if there weren't any people near the front of the line who would fill the car up. We were in between two groups of four. That meant that unless the operator could find two other people, there was a good chance that the operator would just let Kouichi and me get in a car alone. Of course, I didn't count Satomi.

"You can get in a different car," I told her bluntly as the car we were getting on arrived. Kouichi glared at me and opened his mouth, no doubt to object, but Satomi was the one who spoke.

"I think I'll pass this time. I'm not a big fan of ferris wheels. I'll meet you at the exit when you're done."

I glared at her, but she just smiled and moved to stand by the wheel's sign.

Normally I'd have sat next to Kouichi. That would have been the case if there was anyone else in the car. Since there wasn't, I sat in the seat across from him. That way I could see his face better as we rode. Outside the car I could hear the ride's operator talking with the group behind us, then asking the people behind them how many were in their group. I didn't expect him to have any success, so I buckled myself in.

"I'm going on by myself!"

Great, just what I needed, another person to spoil the ride. The operator ushered a brown-haired boy about the same age as Kouichi and myself on. The boy quickly sat down beside me before I could object, and the operator locked the door before I could change sides, giving me no choice but to sit next to this boy...Who was sitting way too close to me for any comfort. I shuffled as far away as the seat belt would let me. Honestly, some people had no sense of space!

Once the ride got moving, Kouichi's face lit up just as I'd hoped it would. After all, he was the only reason I'd come in the first place. Satomi might not have been family, but she was right about both of us needing some fun.

"Ha, stupid Shinya got stuck on the merry-go-round! He looks like a bug from up here!"

I really didn't know who Shinya was, and I really didn't care. I glared at the other boy for ruining the moment. Kouichi put a hand to his face, barely covering a smothered giggle. I glared at _him _for finding the moment funny. He just smiled at me, and after a moment I found myself smiling back. The expression on my face must have been funny, if it made my brother laugh like that.

The car climbed, then descended. We went up a second time. We were just past the top when the ride suddenly halted. Looking out the window I could see all the lights in the park and beyond go out. A blackout.

"Did something happen?" The other boy asked.

"They're probably just letting someone off," Kouichi told him.

I shook my head. "No, you can see from here...All the lights in the park just went out. It's a blackout."

"A blackout? Don't rides have generators for this sort of thing?" The lights in the park flicked back to life again, making the new boy point at the window. "There!"

"Good thing this was our last ride," Kouichi said quietly. "With the blackout they'll probably close the park until the power comes back on."

I nodded. At least we weren't on a very awkward ride, like one of those roller coasters that suspended you mid-air. If the other boy weren't there it would've been pleasant. Of course he _was _there. Right next to me. And making me wish he would _shut up_.

"What? Aw...We just got here, too!"

"Maybe the power will come back on quickly enough that they won't close it." Kouichi said with far more diplomacy than I would have.

"Yeah, you're right."

Several minutes went by. Nothing happened.

"Ooh, why aren't we moving?!" The boy started rocking the car. "The other rides are all moving, why aren't we?"

Did he have to say that quite so _loudly_? I scowled irritably.

"Stop that, you idiot. You aren't helping."

"Who's an idiot? I just want us to get moving already."

"Yes, I know. I'm right next to you. Talking loudly isn't going to start the wheel moving again."

"I _know _that." The boy crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So calm down and stop rocking the car."

"I _am _calm."

"Could've fooled me," I muttered. He glared at me, I glared right back. A cell phone's loud ring cut off the response he was clearly about to make. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone.

"Yeah?"

My phone suddenly rang, too. I had a sneaking suspicion that the two calls were connected, but answered it anyways.

"Kouji!" Satomi. The _last _person I wanted to hear from. "There's been a blackout..." I rolled my eyes. My stepmother could be very good at stating the obvious.

"...The operator says that the generator for the ride you're on isn't working..."

"We're _what_?" The boy next to me was loud enough that I had to put a hand to my ear to block out his sound.

"...And the top half of the wheel is too high up for the fire trucks to reach. So they can't get you down yet. We just have to wait until the blackout's over."

"Right," I sighed, and hung up the phone before Satomi could say anything else. Then I unbuckled my seat belt, happy to finally be away from the other boy. I pulled out my bandanna and put it on as I sat down next to Kouichi. He looked over at me with understanding in his eyes, having overheard the other boy's conversation.

"We're stuck here?"

"The generator the ride's hooked up to is shot, meaning we're not going anywhere until the power comes back on. And from what Satomi says about half the wheel is too high up to get rescued by the fire department."

"So we're really stuck here." The other boy had finished his phone conversation and now looked across at us. "Um, as long as we're here, we may as well introduce ourselves. I'm Takuya Kanbara."

"Kouichi. This is Kouji, my brother."

He didn't mention our family names, most likely to avoid any of the usual confusion that went with us having two different family names.

"Yeah, you two sure look like brothers..." Takuya glanced at him, then at me. "In fact, you almost look like twins."

"We _are _twins." Honestly, how dense _was _this guy? We were the same age, looked nearly identical except for the hair length, and our names were nearly the same.

"Well, how was _I _supposed to know?" Takuya paused long enough to unbuckle his seat belt and then got up.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. Takuya glared at me.

"What's it look like, I'm opening the door. It's boiling in here."

"Fine, whatever." I didn't bother to hide the sarcasm. "If you want to fall out, that's _your _problem."

"I'm not going to fall out." Takuya managed to unlock the door and open it, letting a small breeze in. It didn't do much to help the heat, but it was a slight improvement. "Wow...It's a good thing Mom didn't come with me after all...She doesn't like heights. Is that why _your _mother didn't get on?"

"That's none of your business." Why was this kid so _nosy_? It wasn't like he needed to know or anything.

"I was curious, all right? Geez..." He sat down again. For a few minutes, nobody spoke, and I relished the silence, because it probably wouldn't last. I could see a couple of fire trucks pulling into the park from the window.

"Too bad those fire trucks can't reach us. Wonder how long this is gonna take." Takuya looked at us. "Either of you guys want to play a game?"

Game? What did he think we were, little kids? I glared at him, then back out the window. Kouichi evidently refused, too.

"Aw, c'mon...I'm getting bored. Man, I wish Dad was here. Or Shinya. Or anyone else."

"Don't you ever shut up?" This kid had no idea how to take a hint.

"What d'you think we should do? It's not like we can just read books or anything. And I don't see how you two can just sit there all the time."

"Just wait until the blackout ends. It won't take too long." Although at this point it was _already _too long."

"Yeah, well how long is _that_, genius?"

"I don't know, but it won't be long. It'll take even longer if you keep whining about it."

"_Who's _whining? I just want something to do, okay? Look, Kouji...You're Kouji, right?"

"Last time I checked," I sighed exasperatedly.

"Well, _sorry_. You two look so identical it's a bit hard to keep track, even with your hair being different and all. Anyways, I think we got off on the wrong foot. We probably aren't making things any better for Kouichi there."

I glanced guiltily at Kouichi. He was looking out the window. I couldn't see his face, but I imagined him with a slightly exasperated look on his face. I couldn't blame him. My brother tended to avoid any loud arguments. Every time I got into a fight with Dad or Satomi he would slip off into his room and not come out until the fight had blown over. Here there was no place to get away from _anything_. I wished I could keep my mouth shut, but every time that idiot opened his own mouth...He just got under my skin. Besides, what did _he _know about Kouichi? He was _my _brother, _I _was the one who was supposed to be there for him.

Not some loud-mouthed idiot.

I glared at Takuya, he glared right back. Then we both glared away from each other.

We managed to get through almost an hour without setting each other off too much. Then Takuya's phone rang again.

"Hello? Hey Dad! No, we're fine. Just bored out of our skulls." Takuya paused. "Wait, you're telling me that it's gonna take _hours_ to get the power back on? But, I have to use the bathroom!" I flinched. That was not a good sign. I looked over at Kouichi to see him looking back at me with a concerned expression on his face. Takuya, oblivious to us, continued his conversation. "Well, I didn't expect to be stuck on a ferris wheel for an hour, okay?!" He paused for a couple of minutes. "Okay. How's Shinya doing?" He smiled at the response. "He_ would_. Call me if anything comes up, all right?" Takuya hung up his phone.

"Well, according to my Dad, this is one of those major blackouts and they're saying it could take hours to get the power back on." He pulled off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. I had no idea why he'd brought a hat to an amusement park where it would quickly get knocked off on one of the faster rides, but I guessed he'd probably given it to his parents for safekeeping or something.

"...So it looks like we're gonna be here for a while."

"Wonderful," I groaned unable to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. "At least it doesn't look like there'll be a thunderstorm. That would've made things worse." I could feel Kouichi shudder beside me. I realized that I probably shouldn't have said that.

"Well, there wasn't any thunderstorms in the forecast, I checked. Hey, either of you guys want some bubble gum? It's not much, but it's the closest thing I got to food." Takuya reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet.

"No thank you," I said through clenched teeth. Kouichi wordlessly leaned over to pull a piece out. Takuya popped another one into his mouth.

"Dad says your father's on his way here, and that both our mothers are really worried. He took your stepmother to dinner with Mom and Shinya...He's my little brother. "The people at the park gave them a free meal. Shinya ate so much he's got a stomachache now. I'm getting hungry."

I heard a stifled snort of laughter from next to me. Did Kouichi find that _funny_?

A few more minutes passed before Kouichi spoke up. He'd been mostly silent since introducing us, leaving the talking (And arguing) to me.

"It's a good thing you didn't have Aikido today, you would've missed it."

"Aikido? Isn't that like karate?" Takuya was just lucky we were in such a cramped space, or else I'd have _shown _him some, the hard way.

"Not really." I didn't feel like explaining the differences to him, but he decided to push it.

"What's the difference?"

"Karate tends to stick to punches and kicks, unless you're using the Okinawan version. Aikido's mostly throws, using your opponent's strength against them, and joint locks."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about."

I smirked at him and began reciting all the martial arts and self-defense classes I'd taken over the years. By the time I was done, Takuya was staring at me with his jaw dropped. Even Kouichi, who'd known about the classes, was looking at me with new respect in his eyes.

"...I'd say I know what I'm talking about," I concluded.

"Wow..." Takuya rubbed the back of his head. "I'm pretty good at soccer. I'm the best striker on my school's team. Dad says that if I keep practicing, I can get even better...What about _you_, Kouichi?"

My brother turned away from the window and burying his gaze into his lap. "Don't do sports...Just books."

"Books? I never had much patience for books..."

Did _that _come as much of a surprise? I snorted. Takuya glared at me again before continuing.

"My teacher always yells at me for getting distracted when we're supposed to read. Come to think of it, you read and Kouji does martial arts...You two really aren't alike at all. For twins, at least."

"How many twins have you met?" I asked pointedly.

"None, besides you two. None close up, at least. There were a couple on a soccer team I once played against, bit I didn't get to talk to them."

"Then how do you know we really aren't alike?"

"I..." Takuya paused, then shrugged helplessly. He was silent for a few minutes before speaking again.

"I wonder...Maybe there's some way we can climb out on to the wheel and get back down from there?"

I glared at him. "You really _are _an idiot. Even if we _could _climb out of this car, we're just past the top of the wheel. I don't see a ladder, and we're two hundred feet in the air. If _you _want to try, be my guest...But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Oh."

Takuya was silent for a few more minutes, but then he started squirming around in his seat before finally getting up.

"Augh, I can't hold it in any longer!" That was when I remembered his earlier comment about having to go to the bathroom.

"You are _not_ going to do _that_ in here, idiot!"

Takuya's face turned a lovely shade of red. "I wasn't! I was going to do it out the door."

He moved over to the door.

"You might want to call your parents and tell them what's coming," Kouichi told him in a rather strained voice.

"There's nobody _under_ the wheel. My Dad says that the park security pushed everyone out from under the wheel in case something like this happened. I just have to not fall out, right?"

I snorted. "Think you can handle _that_?"

He glared at me, then pulled down his pants. Once he was finished, he sat down again.

"So, you guys are here with your stepmother, right? That's what Dad said."

"I don't see how it's any of _your_ business." There he went poking his nose into something that didn't involve him again.

"I'm trying to make conversation, all right? It's something people do to pass the time. We were here because Shinya pestered our parents into going. Oh, I wanted to go too, but he wouldn't stop whining until they caved. Shinya wanted to go on the Mammoth, but he was too short. You shoulda heard him cry when he found that out. Dad took him on the merry-go-round...But I'm kinda glad he's not here. He'd have been whining about how hungry and hot he was."

"That's funny, I remember _you _doing just that less than an hour ago,"

"Well sure I did that, but not all the time like Shinya would."

"How old is Shinya, anyways?" Kouichi asked.

"Nearly eight. His birthday's in a couple of weeks. He's a real pain, but he's a good kid."

"I think all siblings are a pain at one point or another." Kouichi glanced at me. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't _that _much of a pain. Neither was Kouichi for that matter.

"You probably got it worse than me. I mean, you're_ twins_! You had to spend your entire life with 'mister grumpy' there!"

Kouichi didn't respond. He was probably thinking about what our lives might have been like if our parents had stayed together.

"Kouichi? You okay?" Takuya it seemed, wasn't _quite _as oblivious to other people as I'd thought.

"Big brother?" I gently shook his shoulder. He blinked, then remembered where he was.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to space you on you guys like that."

Takuya and I exchanged glances. I hoped he would take the hint and not do anything to make my brother upset anymore.

"No problem," Takuya said in a voice that was only slightly louder than normal. So much for being subtle. "Looks like they got everyone out that they could reach...The fire trucks are leaving."

Kouichi smiled politely for a moment, then his eyes got that distant look in them that usually only happened when he was thinking about Mom. I was about to say something to snap him out of it when my phone rang.

"Kouji, you okay?" It was Dad. I rolled my eyes. We didn't need _his _help.

"Yes Dad, we're fine..." I thought of something else. "Raiko needs walking. That's the only thing we need right now."

"Okay...It's funny, Satomi wanted us all here, and here we all are...It just didn't happen the way we expected it to. Can I talk to Kouichi? Satomi said his phone's off."

I wondered what Dad wanted to say to Kouichi, but I handed him the phone anyways.

"Dad wants to talk to you."

Kouichi didn't like phones very much. When Dad had gotten him his cell phone, he had pointed out that he didn't really _need _it, and would likely never turn it on. Dad had told him to keep it, just in case of an emergency. I was pretty sure that being stuck on a ferris wheel fit the definition of "emergency."

"Dad?" Kouichi paused, then "We're okay...It's just a bit awkward up here, that's all."

Now _that _was an understatement if I'd heard one. Leave it to Kouichi to be polite about it.

"Yeah I do, I don't usually turn it on." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and did just that. "It's on now. I'll give Kouji back his phone."

He was about to hang up when Dad evidently said something else.

"Yeah." Another pause. "I'll try. I can't make any promises, though."

He hung up the phone and handed it back to me.

"Anything new?" Takuya asked.

"I guess the heat caused all this. We could be here for a long time."

"Figures..." Takuya slumped back against the wall, then pulled the packet of gum out again. "I'm hungry. Either of you want another one?"

I glared at him again. I didn't like gum...The only time I had tried it I managed to get the stuff stuck on my shirt, which had resulted in the shirt being thrown away. I had _liked _that shirt.

"What? I was trying to be nice. People _share_. Don't you two share stuff?"

Kouichi and I didn't really share stuff. By the time we had met each other and started living in the same house, we both had our own things, and we used our own things. Not that I would have _minded _sharing anything if it was with Kouichi. I tried to imagine him wearing my clothes more often than that one time or trying to play my guitar. _That _image was funny enough that I almost laughed.

Still, that wasn't the same as actually sharing things. Wasn't that what brothers were supposed to do?

I didn't say anything because I couldn't say anything...And the silence from Kouichi spoke volumes, too. Takuya had a suspicious look on his face as he looked back and forth between us.

"Something's going on here. You two don't share stuff? Shinya and I've been sharing clothes and toys since he was born..." His voice faltered as realization hit him. "You have a stepmother...Maybe your parents got divorced...Did they split you up?"

Leave it to Takuya to not leave well enough alone. "I already told you, it's none of your business!"

"I thought so...That explains a lot."

The smugness in his voice made me want to hit him. I glared out the window in the hope that the sunset would distract me from it.

"Not that it really matters to me or anything. You both seem like nice enough guys to me. Even _you, _Kouji. Anyways," His voice became muffled, like he was talking around a piece of gum. "Wonder how long it's gonna take to get us down from here."

"_Too _long." I really didn't care if he heard that. Prying into our family history like that was _rude_.

"It's sunset now, it'll be dark soon...That'll cool everything down and make it easier for them. We could be home before bedtime." Takuya sounded far more optimistic about that than I felt

Time passed. The sky grew darker and darker, and the stars began coming out. It was a pretty sight, although it would've been prettier if we weren't trapped. If Satomi hadn't brought Kouichi and me on that unlucky trip, I probably would've gone to the backyard to see it. Maybe Kouichi would wanted to come. He'd had a book on stars in with all the fantasy books, right?

Takuya's mother eventually called again. This time he hung up with a expression of mingled relief and exasperation

"It looks like Dad's taking Shinya home. He's getting tired of waiting...You watch, he's gonna get into my room and play with all my things! Ugh, I hope that kid doesn't break anything..."

Next to me Kouichi suddenly shuddered. I couldn't see his eyes in the darkness, but I had a feeling he was thinking about Mom again rather than shuddering from the cold. I gently put a hand to his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Kouichi?"

"Just...Thinking. Mom and I used to go out and watch the stars come out on days like this."

I felt a pang of guilt. And to think I was just thinking about watching the stars with him. What was I doing arguing with Takuya all this time? Kouichi _needed _me. I moved my hand so it draped down his other shoulder as he shuddered again.

"Kouichi, what's wrong? What's going on?" Just this once, I wished Takuya would keep his mouth shut. Kouichi was still hurting from her death, and talking about it was going to make things worse.

"N-Nothing." He was beginning to really tremble now. Not good.

"Kouichi, did something happen to your mother?"

That was the final straw. Takuya had _no_ idea what Kouichi was going through, and his unwanted attempts to pry into my brother's past was hurting him even more. I let go of Kouichi and got to my feet.

"Leave him alone!"

Takuya also stood up.

"I was trying to _help _him! How can I help him when I don't know what's wrong?"

"It's not your business, and it's too painful for him to talk about it. Stay away from my brother!"

"Oh, so _that's_ it. You're just gonna protect him by keeping any potential friends away from him. That worked _so _well for you..."

I nearly exploded with rage. What did _he _know about me? _He _had never had his father lie to him for almost his entire life. Never had _his _father marry a stranger and force him to call that woman "_mother_." _He'd _never been forced to move every time he made friends until he'd just stopped trying...

_He _had never drowned in loneliness until the only person he actually could really talk to was the brother he'd only just met...

I grabbed Takuya by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. This motion caused the car to start rocking even harder.

"You're just lucky I haven't thrown you out of the door." I could barely keep the rage out of my voice.

"Stop! _ Stop it!_" Kouichi's voice cracked with fear. "Kouji, just...Just _stop_! _Please!"_

Takuya and I looked at each other. What was I _doing_? I was supposed to be there for my brother, not making his pain _worse_! I dropped Takuya and moved to Kouichi's side, wrapping my arm around his shoulders again and this time pulling him to mine. Kouichi took several long deep ragged breaths, trying to calm down.

What _was _I doing? I repeated the thought to myself. Takuya's words echoed in my mind. _"You're just gonna protect him by keeping any potential friends away from him..." _I was _supposed _to be there to protect Kouichi. He needed it...Needed _me_...

...Right?

Was I doing the right thing by getting between Kouichi and Takuya? It wasn't like Kouichi _had _many friends, and _that _had been _before _Mom had died and he'd moved. I didn't want to see him go through the same heartbreak that I had again and again...But that didn't mean he could only depend on me.

Kouichi finally got himself back together and pulled away from me to face Takuya.

"Our parents got divorced when we were too young to remember...I lived with Mom, Kouji lived with Dad. They didn't tell either of us about each other because it hurt both of them too much to talk about it..." He sat up a little, sniffing as he did. "Three weeks ago my mother was hit by a car and killed, so I had to go live with Dad. That was when Kouji and I met."

"I'm sorry," Takuya said. "If I lost_ my _Mom, I don't know what I'd do...It must be hard for you."

"Harder than anything."

"But, if your parents are divorced, you've got two different family names, right? I thought it was strange when you two introduced yourselves and didn't mention a family name. What _are_ your family names, anyways?"

"Kouichi Kimura..."

"Kouji Minamoto," I added.

"Kimura and Minamoto, huh? I'm sorry if I pushed you too hard, Kouichi. I thought it would help if you talked about it."

"It helps a little." My brother brushed a sleeve over his eyes.. "It's not your fault. It's not _anyone's_ fault...It's just...I _miss_ her."

"We _both_ miss her," I said. Even if I'd never known her, my mother's presence was clear in Kouichi's smile, which though it was shaky and shy lit up his face as he looked up at me.

"Anyways," Takuya rubbed the back of his head. "I just wanted to say that what just happened doesn't change my opinion of either of you, Kouichi. In fact, when we get out of this maybe the three of us can hang out together some time. See a movie or something."

Kouichi turned that shy smile to face him.

"That would be great."

One thing I'd learned about Kouichi in the short time I'd known him was that he had a tendency to...Shut down for lack of a better phrase once it was too long past his bedtime. He didn't stop thinking as such, but his reaction time slowed down, and he yawned a lot. His normal response to anyone speaking to him past that time was a sleepy "Hmm?" causing the person who had just spoke to him to have to repeat what they had just said.

It was getting late, and I realized that he was approaching this point when he started yawning.

"Tired?"

He nodded. I got up to sit down next to Takuya.

"You can sleep on the seat. There's enough room."

Kouichi's eyes widened, and he smiled at me before curling up on the seat and closing his eyes.

"Good night, Kouji."

It only took a few minutes for his breathing to slow down as he descended into slumber, so I guessed I had made the right call. I pulled my jacket off my waist and gently laid it across him, being careful not to rock the car as I did. Kouichi mumbled something in his sleep that sounded very much like "thanks, Mom."

"Um, Kouji?" Takuya asked as I sat back down again. "I'm sorry I set you off earlier. I'm not very good at thinking before I say something."

"No, you were right. I...I didn't want to see Kouichi hurt anymore. When I first met him, I started to be with him because he _needed _me. Now..." I took a breath before finally admitting the truth, both to Takuya and to myself. "It's the other way around, too. _I _need _him_. I need him to keep me from drowning in my loneliness."

"Loneliness?"

"My father moved around a lot because of his job. Every time I made friends, I had to leave them. Eventually I just stopped trying, because it was too painful."

"Wow, that stinks. Look, Kouji...You keep pushing people away to spare yourself the heartbreak of losing them, but you can't just depend on your brother your whole life."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"Well, _I _could be your friend. _Both _of you. I'd like to get to know you guys better. Even if you have to move again, at least I can say I knew you."

I turned to look at him. Takuya was smiling like the idiot that he was, but there was nothing insincere in his eyes. He really _wanted _to be friends. This couldn't possibly be true. He had to have a hidden agenda, right?

It wasn't like I _needed _friends...

...Right?

Maybe I didn't, I thought as I glanced at Kouichi. My brother however...

I could at least try, for _his _sake.

"Okay, you can be my friend."

"Really?"

"...But if you ever do anything to make Kouichi cry again, you'll regret it."

"Gotcha." Takuya followed my gaze to my brother. "You know, I kinda envy you two. You don't spend all day fighting, like Shinya and I do."

"We've only known each other for three weeks...And we _do _argue." I bitterly remembered Kouichi's chewed-up book a week ago.

"Yeah, but at least it's not over something _stupid_, like who gets to play the new video game first. Or why Shinya gets to watch that dumb cartoon thirty million times in a row. Maybe when we get out of this, you two can teach me how to be a better brother."

I stared at him. "You're asking _me _to teach you about being a better brother? I don't know anything _about _being a brother."

"You sure? I don't think Kouichi would be smiling like that if you were a _bad _brother."

I took a closer look at my brother to see that Takuya was right. Kouichi was still smiling, even in his sleep. Come to think of it, there were all the other times he'd smiled at me, and he hadn't just used the polite smile he had for people he didn't know. Maybe I _was _doing something right.

"Shinya and I actually get along most of the time," Takuya continued. "It's just the little things that push my buttons. Maybe there isn't any 'right' way to be a brother...We should just do whatever works. How about this...I'll teach you guys about how it works for me, if you teach me what works for you. Deal?"

His goofy grin was infectious, and I found myself smiling back.

"Deal."

I spent the final hour of that fateful ride listening to Takuya talk. Mostly about his family, sometimes about stuff he thought was cool, like video games and such. He was surprised by the fact that neither of us had bothered playing video games (I'd thought it wasn't worth the time, and since Kouichi didn't have a TV at his old home or money to get a hand-held system, there really wasn't much point in getting video games) and became very enthusiastic at the thought of teaching us how to play them.

That was when the wheel's lights suddenly flicked to life, and the power began humming through the wheel. Takuya whooped and jumped up, starting the car rocking again. Kouichi sat up, knocking my jacket over.

"Kouichi, you're awake?" I asked him. He nodded, rubbing his eyes as he did so.

"The power's back on?"

"It's still gonna take a few minutes to get us off," I said glaring at Takuya. He had closed the door to the car and now stood there in front of the window impatiently watching everything happen. "There are other people on the ride, you know."

"Yeah, I know that. The power's back on, and that's what counts."

"What time is it?" Kouichi still sounded a little sleepy. It was definitely past that time where his brain shut down for the night.

"Just past midnight." Takuya managed to answer him before I did. The wheel slowed down again to let the first set of people off, then it quickly started again. The process repeated until it finally reached our car.

Dad and Satomi were waiting for us as we got off. There was another woman with them. Takuya let out a happy cry as he saw her and ran to her, so she was probably his mother. I was so busy watching him that I didn't notice Satomi coming up until she put her arms around both of us. I stiffened, but since Kouichi was there, I decided to not pull away...For a moment, at least. then when I did she released both of us.

"You boys really have a knack for getting into trouble, don't you?" Dad put an arm around my brother. "Let's go. We all need some sleep after all that, and I gotta get up early for work tomorrow."

"Hey!" Takuya ran up to us. "I never got your phone numbers. D'you want to go see a movie next weekend?"

I nodded and grabbed my phone. Kouichi smiled at him.

"That would be great."

Dad and Satomi looked at each other with stunned faces, which almost made me laugh. What, did they expect me to always be a loner?

"We can do you one better," another man said. Going by the uniform, I guessed he was one of the people who ran the park. "We're giving everyone who was stuck on the Mammoth and their families season passes to Fun World to make up for all the inconvenience."

The thought of returning to Fun World made my stomach curl. Of course, Takuya didn't notice.

"Really? We can come back here_ any time we want? _All_ right_!" He looked at me and Kouichi. You two gotta come here with us next time! _Please_?"

My brother and I exchanged glances. As much as I wanted to avoid any amusement parks, _especially _this one, I wanted to see Kouichi smiling more. Even if _I _wasn't the one making him smile this time. I turned to Takuya and smirked at him.

"Sure we'll go, but if you make us get on that wheel again, I'll _really _throw you out the door."

Even Kouichi's jaw dropped at that one.

Though I didn't admit it in front of Dad and Satomi, it was very late and I was exhausted...And I hadn't had the benefit of that two-hour nap that Kouichi had. In fact, I was tired enough to actually fall asleep on the drive back home. The slight embarrassment from that was increased by the fact that I had at some point after I fell asleep I'd somehow shifted so I was actually leaning on Kouichi as I slept. Fortunately, Kouichi hadn't objected to that. He'd even tentatively nudged me awake as we'd pulled into the driveway. I think that was the first time since we'd moved his stuff that he'd tried that. By that point, I was too tired to call him out on it.

I was happy to finally get to my room and to bed. As I entered my room, I looked at the picture of Mom on my desk and then picked it up. The movement set the picture frame to rotating, showing that old picture my Dad had had a friend of his take of him, Satomi, and me. I mentally reminded myself to ask Satomi for a copy of one of those pictures she'd taken of me and Kouichi earlier today.

That way I could replace the picture of the unhappy person I'd been before with the person I was now...And instead of the father who lied to me and betrayed me and the complete stranger who was trying to replace my mother, the picture would be me with the one person in the family I _really _cared for.

**Author's Note: Yow, writing that one took longer than I thought...Mostly from the dialogue between Takuya and Kouji. It's harder than it looks to write a good argument. And this was my longest chapter so far!**

**Anyways, I suppose I should say why Kouji's taking Aikido. There's a studio that teaches it in my town. Although it's not the nearest place that teaches martial arts. There's a place that teaches Tae Kwan Do that's nearer. Not that I do that or anything...Most of what I learned about martial arts I learned researching for this 'Fic!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dad's anniversary with Satomi was always the worst time of the year. He always made me get flowers for Satomi, as if she really was my mother. I wanted to dump the flowers in the trash rather than give them to her, but the one time I tried Dad on their second anniversary Dad had grounded me for a month and had made me get another bouquet...With my own allowance. That was the main reason I didn't try that on their next anniversary, but that didn't stop me from _wanting _to.

Their third anniversary was different. This was their first anniversary since Mom, the mother I'd spent years thinking was _dead_, had really died. I had Kouichi to go through it with me. He got along with Satomi well, and was willing to at least smile and tell them to have a nice time, even if _I _wasn't. In fact, he even volunteered to give her the flowers this year. He also came up with the idea of getting a second bouquet for our _real _mother that I could place on her shrine.

Just under one week after both the anniversary and Takuya's brother Shinya's birthday, which happened to be on the same day, Takuya invited the two of us to watch yet another movie. He'd already dragged us to several before school had started, which I didn't mind as much as I thought I did. Takuya's movie choices were mostly ones I was into, and to a lesser extent Kouichi.

Although that didn't mean his taste in movies was great..

"_Tyranno versus Gorri_?" I asked irritably. "It sounds like a _Godzilla _ripoff."

I wasn't too thrilled with Takuya's timing, either. He had called right when we were doing homework. Kouichi was already sitting on the floor with his English textbook in one hand. He tended to prefer the floor when we were both doing homework together, letting me take the desk Dad had bought for him.

"There aren't any real Godzilla movies playing at times we can get to them," Takuya retorted over my phone. "Besides, it won't be just you guys and me. There's a girl in my class that I wanted to show it too..."

"If you were having a date, why didn't you just say so?" I smirked a little. "Unless you want us as chaperones."

Kouichi snorted with amusement and Takuya choked. I imagined him turning a bright red from embarrassment. That was payback from when he had spilled his drink on my jacket the _last _time we had gone to the movies.

"It's not like _that_," Takuya finally managed to say. "There's another boy from my school going with us, too."

I somehow managed to avoid making any more jokes about Takuya's love life. "So, why do you want _us _to come?"

"'Cause I want you guys to have more friends than just me, okay? The girl I'm inviting is the same way...I don't know much about the other guy, but I think he's the same way, too. Besides, don't you _like _monster movies?"

"Only _good _ones."

"You never know if you'll like something unless you've _seen _it, Kouji."

"How about by reading reviews for it?"

"Oh, yeah...Seriously Kouji, I really think you guys need this. Especially Kouichi."

I glanced over at my brother. He had gone back to his homework and was now scowling down at his paper. Did he really need to watch such a _stupid _movie?

"Why don't you ask him?" Takuya asked as the silence over the phone stretched thin.

"Hey, big brother..." Kouichi looked up, an expression of curiosity on his face. "Want to see _Tyranno versus Gorri_ tomorrow with Takuya and a couple of his friends?"

"Sounds more like _your _thing than mine." Kouichi tilted his head to one side. "But, I'll go if _you're _going."

"Well?" I rolled my eyes at Takuya's impatience.

"He says he'll go if I'm going."

"Great. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Who said I was going?" I demanded, but Takuya had already hung up.

"Takuya, evidently." Kouichi flipped through his textbook. "You should probably tell Dad we're going."

I was tempted to tell my brother that _he _should be the one to tell Dad about our latest trip with Takuya, but he still tended to clam up when he was around our father.

Dad not only approved, he also gave us our allowance earlier than I'd expected so we could afford the movie. I wondered about that as we left home the next morning for the train station. Dad wasn't normally the type to give allowance early. He was probably still trying to make up for both his absence in Kouichi's life and lying to me...And while I hadn't forgiven him for that, seeing him trying to talk to my brother in spite of both of them not knowing anything about how to talk to each other at least made me a bit less likely to think badly of him.

That day wasn't as hot as the day we'd met Takuya, but it was humid. I was tempted to take my jacket off again just to stop sweating for a while. Luckily the subway's air conditioner was actually working so by the time we arrived at the park I was only a bit sweaty.

Takuya was in the park across the street from the theater, fiddling around with his phone.

"Hey! You _did _come after all. I wasn't sure you would."

"Well, you hung up on me before I told you I would," I replied pointedly.

"I just got a message from the other boy we're supposed to meet, he stopped at the store to get something cool to drink...I should've done that. I haven't heard from Izumi yet...She's the girl I was talking about..."

I noticed a blonde girl walking up behind him, most likely Izumi. Takuya didn't see her and kept on talking.

"I hope she didn't get lost trying to find this place...She isn't very good at asking for directions."

"Or maybe I just follow them better than you do," the girl said from right behind him, making him jump.

"Izumi, don't _scare _me like that!"

"What? It's not _my _fault you didn't notice me."

"Whatever." Takuya crossed his arms irritably. "Guys, this is Izumi Orimoto. Izumi, that's Kouichi, and that's Kouji. They're twins."

Normally people's reactions to finding out we're twins is either "I knew it," or "That's so cool." Followed in both cases by an exclamation about how much we look alike. It annoys both of us, but there really isn't much either of us can do about it. Izumi's reaction was different.

"_Gemelli_, huh? My aunt has a twin sister...Not that I've seen her sister since she married my uncle."

"That doesn't sound like a Japanese word," Kouichi remarked.

"It isn't. Sorry, I recently came back from an extended trip to Italy, so I'm still adjusting." She turned to Takuya "Have you heard from Junpei yet?"

"I just got a message from him, he stopped at the store to get a cold drink. He'll be here soon."

"I hope so...I'd hate to miss the beginning of the movie because we had to wait for him."

Luckily we didn't have to wait for more than two minutes before a slightly out of shape boy a bit older than the rest of us jogged over, breathing heavily and almost plowing into Kouichi before he came to a stop.

"I-I made it, Izumi!" He gasped. He then paused to take a long gulp from the drink he was holding. "Man, I needed that!"

"Junpei, you didn't have to run. We've still got ten minutes!" Izumi's exasperation was obvious. "And you really need to look where you're going. You almost ran over..." She looked at my brother. "It's Kouichi, right?"

"Sorry." Junpei sounded a bit better after the drink. He then looked at me and Kouichi. "Hey, you two sure look alike. Are you twins?"

I rolled my eyes. Kouichi just smiled politely and nodded.

"Thought so...I'm Junpei Shibuyama. Nice to meet you."

"Kouichi..."

"Kouji." I wasn't really in the mood to talk, but for Kouichi's sake I could at least introduce myself.

"Kouichi and Kouji...At least it's easy to know which one's which." Junpei turned to Izumi. "Oh, I got something for you too, Izumi." He suddenly produced another cold bottled drink out of seeming thin air. I suspected he'd had it up his sleeve, but didn't say anything.

"Junpei, you didn't need to..." Izumi turned bright red.

"Trying to get on Izumi's good side again, huh Junpei?" Takuya elbowed Junpei in the ribs.

"I thought she might be thirsty!" Junpei also turned red. "There isn't anything wrong with _that_, is there?"

"Of course not." Izumi opened the bottle and drank some. "_Delicioso_! Thanks, Junpei."

"He'll be offering you a wedding ring next..." Takuya's rather rude comment was cut off by Izumi storming in his direction, bottle still in hand. He, having enough sense to see that he'd gone too far this time, ducked behind me.

"Izumi, I was just joking...Calm down! Kouji, help me out here!"

"Why should I help _you_? This isn't any of my business."

"Because you're my friend! My _best _friend!" Takuya dodged around to my front as Izumi darted around me. I had no idea what she was trying to do to him, but I didn't want to be involved.

"And _you're _the one with the big mouth that set her off in the first place."

Izumi tried catching Takuya again, causing him to run behind me again, this time putting his hands on my shoulders in an effort to keep me between him and Izumi.

"Let go of me, you idiot!" My fingers itched to throw him to the ground, but I didn't...Mostly because it wasn't worth the effort.

"But she'll get me if I do!" Takuya managed to turn me as Izumi tried again. Just as I was about to actually give in to the desire to throw him, a new sound caused us all to stop and turn to Kouichi. He was doubled over laughing loudly.

"S-Sorry." Kouichi managed to say. "You...You should see your faces..."

"Well, I was only going to tickle him." Izumi picked up her hat which had fallen on the ground during the chase.

"We should get tickets for the movie." Junpei finished his drink, and began looking for a place to recycle the bottle. I glanced over at Kouichi, who had mostly recovered from his laughter. I hadn't really heard him laugh like that since the day we had moved his stuff. Oh, I heard him giggle, snort or guffaw every now and then, but actually laughing like that...Maybe Takuya had a point about him needing this.

The movie was pretty much everything I predicted it would be, a third-rate monster movie with the plot pretty much ripped from the _Godzilla _movies. The only thing that happened during the movie itself was during one particularly suspenseful scene I glanced at Kouichi to see his eyes were closed. Was he scared? I remembered his words from that time he was sick. "_I was scared of a lot of things when I was a little kid," _he had said. I leaned over to him.

"Scared, big brother?"

"Only this scene. Everything else isn't too bad."

"If you need to take a break just ask me, all right?"

"I know. I can just close my eyes, too." He paused for a moment, then added "Thank you, Kouji."

"Are all monster movies like that?" Izumi wondered as we left the theater an hour later.

"No, that one was pretty bad." I told her. "If you want a good one, watch the original _Godzilla _someday."

"We've got it at home, if you ever want to." Kouichi absent-mindedly ran a hand through his hair. He was right, we did have the original at home along with some of the better sequels. I wasn't sure if he'd ever watched any of the _Godzilla _movies, but I had a suspicion he hadn't. I made a mental note to correct that when we had the time.

"There's an idea," Takuya flung an arm around Kouichi's shoulders, causing my brother's eyes to drop to the ground. "We can all go to your place and watch it someday."

"I don't think Dad would object..." Kouichi glanced up at me. I had the sinking feeling that I'd be seeing these people next weekend.

"You guys should ask your Dad if we can." Takuya had that idiotic grin back on his face. "Let me know what he says, then I'll let Junpei and Izumi know."

"Or we could just exchange phone numbers so they can let us all know directly." Izumi held up a cell phone.

"Or we could do that." Takuya pointed to her cell phone.

"I haven't been able to see any movies like that," Izumi remarked as we went through the process of turning on phones (All of our phones were off for the movie, but Kouichi had, as usual, just left his off.) "Italy isn't known for monster movies...Most of the famous Italian movies are American Westerns."

"That's like cowboys, isn't it?" Junpei asked.

"Sort of...They used Italian actors to play Mexicans, since they looked the part. The Americans call them 'Spaghetti Westerns.'"

"Spa-Spaghetti?" Junpei struggled with the word.

"It's food, a kind of pasta. I haven't had any since we left Italy. Maybe I could make some for you guys."

"I-I'd like that." Junpei was blushing again.

"Yeah, we can all get together at Kouichi and Kouji's place and have s...Spaggu..." Takuya also couldn't pronounce the foreign word.

"Spaghetti?" Izumi giggled.

"Yeah, that stuff...If your parents agree." He looked at me.

"Don't get your hopes up, he might say 'no.'"

"So? Then maybe we can watch the movie at my place. And have spagedy."

I looked at Kouichi. He was looking at the ground with the polite smile he used for people he didn't know very well. He wasn't the kind to make friends easily, although he was more likely to than I was. Takuya was right about him needing friends...Well, who was I to deny him a chance to be happy?

"I think our Dad will let us do this," I said. "He'll probably be out working, anyways."

Izumi and Junpei said their goodbyes after that, since they had other things to do, and then it was down to Takuya, Kouichi and me.

"I wonder what we should do now?" Takuya wondered as we walked down the street. "Dinner's not for three hours, maybe we can go to the arcade?"

"There's a bookstore across the street." Kouichi had that wistful look on his face. "I want to see if they have the next book in a series I'm reading...The library's copy is taken out."

"Books? Aw..." Takuya stopped when I glared at him. "Okay."

Kouichi being Kouichi, the stop at the bookstore took longer than it would have if it were just me and Takuya. We waited patiently, or in Takuya's case _im_patiently for him to finish.

"How long's it _normally _take him to pick a book?" Takuya grumbled, leaning against a nearby bookshelf.

"No idea. Big brother likes to go to the library to just hang out there, he can take hours...But I think he's making it fast for our sake."

"I can hear you guys..." Kouichi's voice was muffled by the bookshelf. He sounded exasperated though. "I'm nearly done."

Takuya and I exchanged glances, then he got that goofy grin again.

"Sorry, Kouichi!"

My brother came around the bookshelf a minute later, carrying not one but two books.

"D'you have the money for that?" I asked. "I can get the rest if you don't..."

"I'm okay. I don't spend a lot...And this second one's from the used shelf. It's cheaper."

Kouichi paid for his books and we went on to the arcade. Not that the arcade was much of an improvement on the bookstore. Kouichi just leaned against the wall and read his book while Takuya repeatedly beat me in some fighting game he insisted I play. Seriously, what do people see in those things?

By the time I persuaded Takuya that I was _not _going to spend another yen losing a game to him, the sky had turned an ominous shade of cloudy and an increasing amount of rain was coming down.

"Aw man..." Takuya groaned. "My house isn't far from here. You want to come over until it blows over?"

"We can just stay here, you know." I glared out at the rain. Why did I have to go with Takuya after the movie ended? I could be at home practicing guitar or showing my brother the Godzilla movie.

"I think it's gonna take a while to settle down. C'mon!" Before I could object, Takuya grabbed my arm and pulled me out into the rain. We were both instantly soaked, as was Kouichi whose only choices were to either stay there until the rain stopped or to follow us. After a few minutes of running, I began recognizing the neighborhood as Kouichi and I had been there a week before for his brother's birthday party. Finally we stopped at the door of Takuya's house, pausing a bit for Kouichi to catch up.

"You okay, big brother?" I asked as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Kouichi wasn't quite as out of shape as Junpei had been earlier, but he definitely preferred walking to running.

"Y-yeah." He was hunched over his books, in the hope that they wouldn't get wet. It didn't quite work, I noticed as he pulled his books out and looked at them in dismay. He hadn't thought to get a bag for them...I guessed he assumed that he'd be home by the time the rain started, like I had.

Takuya had already opened the door and was taking off his shoes. I could see his brother Shinya sitting on the floor in front of a TV playing some video game, or at least he was until we got in.

"Big brother, you're back!"

"Well of course, little brother. I live here!" Takuya took off his hat and tossed it on to the couch.

"Takuya, how was the movie?" His mother came down the stairs and stared at us. "You're soaked! Takuya, you could've just stayed in the theater."

"Well, the rain was gonna get worse, so I figured it'd be easier just to run." Takuya said rubbing the back of his head. His mother shook her head.

"Easier for _you _maybe, but your friends? I'll just get some towels for you." She ducked into a nearby closet and came out with several towels. We took them gratefully.

"What are you playing?" Takuya put his towel around his neck and wandered over to look at the TV. "_Bolt Blasters_? Aw, that's _my _game."

"You weren't here. Besides, you were playing _Wonder Kid _yesterday, and that's _my _game." Shinya glared up at him. Takuya glared back.

"I was only playing it to see if I could beat it. You couldn't even get past the first level!"

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't!"

"Can, too!"

"Hey!" Their mother cut through the loud argument. "We have guests, if you didn't notice. If you're done drying off, why don't you play that board game they gave Shinya for his birthday?"

They looked at each other.

"It's in my room. I'll get it!" Shinya took off up the stairs. I found myself exchanging glances with Kouichi. Compared to those two, we weren't that bad...But we hadn't known each other for quite as long...And neither of us were as hardheaded as Takuya was! I wondered if we'd have been more like them if our parents had stayed together...Or if Mom had somehow survived.

The next hour was spent in the living room playing Shinya's board game, and waiting for the rain to stop...But it didn't. As a matter of fact, the game was ended when a loud boom of thunder echoed through the house.

"There isn't gonna be lightning, is there?" Shinya asked with a worried expression.

"Probably," I sighed. "That usually comes with thunder, doesn't it?"

Shinya's eyes went wide in sudden terror. "I don't _wanna _be zapped by lightning!"

"Shinya, you can relax. We're _inside_. The worst that can happen is that the power goes out." Takuya picked up the dice. "It's my turn, right?"

"No, the worst that can happen is being stuck in a ferris wheel with _you_." I smirked at him.

"I don't want the power to go out!" Shinya protested. "The last time that happened my night light went out and I couldn't sleep!"

"You were sleeping just fine when I got back." Takuya threw him an exasperated look. "I don't see why you need a night light, anyways. Unless you're trying to get rid of the boogeyman in the closet..."

"M-my closet? _Mom_!" Shinya got up and ran away, leaving the two of us with a baffled Takuya.

"What did I say?"

I buried my face in my hands. "Do us all a favor and just shut up."

"Oh. I'd better go tell him I was just joking before he gets Mom on me." And he too got to his feet and left, leaving me and Kouichi as the only people in the room.

There was another crack of thunder. I saw Kouichi twitch slightly as it died off.

"Are you scared?"

"No, just startled. It's different...I tend to jump at unexpected noises a lot."

"Oh."

Kouichi looked down at the game. "Are they coming back? Maybe we should pick this up."

"Let's just leave it for now. Takuya's such an idiot!"

"Yeah..." Kouichi's gaze focused on the rain outside as thunder rolled through the air again. "It's really coming down out there...You should call home and tell Satomi where we are."

"Why don't _you _call? It's your home, too."

He blinked at me. "Yeah, I know it is...But, I...It doesn't _feel _like home. Mom's not there."

I put a sympathetic hand to his shoulder.

"I know I'll have to get used to it. I will, eventually...It...I..." Kouichi faltered a little before recovering. "I don't like talking on the phone much, anyway. You're better at it than I am."

"I'm not that much better..." I pulled out my phone. The only adult at home would be Satomi, since Dad would be on his way home from work. So of course she was the one who picked up

"Hello?"

"Satomi, it's Kouji...We're at Takuya's place."

"That's good to hear...I've heard the rain's supposed to keep up like this until past midnight."

"Lovely."

"You said 'we're,' Kouichi's with you, right?"

"Yeah. You want to talk to him?"

"No, I wanted to make sure he was there. Let me know if anything comes up or if you two need a ride back."

"Right." I hung up.

"What did Satomi say?" Kouichi asked.

"It's pretty much gonna rain like this all night."

"It sure _looks _like it will." He glanced out the window again.

"You gonna be all right, big brother?"

"Yeah...Sorry. Every time I think of home, it's never your place...It's always our old one."

"It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault."

"Hmm." He looked down at the game board. "Wonder how much longer it'll take them to get back?"

As if on cue, the loud sound of thumping feet heralded the return of Takuya.

"Mom says that dinner is nearly ready, and you guys are welcome to join us." He looked down at the half-finished game. "Oh, I forgot about that...We'd better put this away before Dad steps on it. He's gonna be back from work soon."

It didn't take us too long to put the game back in the box and the box on the table, out from underfoot. Then we followed Takuya into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner. Shinya was already sitting at the table, using crayons to fill in a coloring book.

"Would you like some ramen?" Takuya's mother asked. "I've got some chicken in the freezer too, if you want something else."

I want mochi!" Shinya called.

"Shinya, that's for dessert. You gotta eat your dinner first." Takuya sat down at the table next to him. Kouichi and I sat across from them. A few minutes later, the food was done and we began eating. Then just after that Takuya's father got home.

"Hi, Dad!" Shinya called cheerfully as his father entered the kitchen.

"Dad! You remember Kouichi and Kouji, don't you? From Shinya's birthday?" Takuya suddenly realized he had food in his mouth and quickly gulped it down. "We got stuck in the rain, so I brought them here."

"Hey, I remember you guys." His father said. "You're the twins, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Kouichi looked down at his ramen. Takuya's father took a full bowl from the stove and sat down at the table.

"Cool. I forgot chopsticks..." He got up to get them, only to meet his wife who had beaten him to it.

"I swear, you'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on." Takuya's mother shook her head in exasperation and handed him the chopsticks.

"It's screwed on? Where are the screws?" Takuya's father comically felt his head, making Shinya laugh. Takuya joined him after a moment. Something that wouldn't have happened with my father...Not that Dad was serious all the time, but the few times he tried to be funny, it would fall flat with me or Kouichi. Satomi would be the only one who laughed.

After dinner we sat around and played video games. Or rather Takuya and Shinya sat around playing video games. Kouichi curled up on the couch behind them with one of the books he'd bought and I sat down next to him. Eventually my phone rang. This time it was Dad.

"Kouji, you're still at Takuya's place, right?"

"Yeah, did you think we were going out into the thunderstorm?"

Dad ignored my sarcasm. "Satomi says it's going to be like this for the rest of the night. So I can drive over there and pick you boys up whenever you're ready...I just need directions"

"Right." I nudged Kouichi to pull him out of the book. "Dad says he can pick us up whenever we're ready."

"Oh. That's good."

"You ready to go, big brother?"

"Sure, if you are."

"You guys going home?" Takuya paused the video game. "It's still raining out."

"Our Dad says he can pick us up whenever we're ready. He needs directions though."

"Mom's better at it than I am...Hey, Mom!" Takuya got up and stomped up the stairs. He stomped back down a few seconds later, followed by his mother who moved at a slightly less breakneck pace.

"Your father needs directions?" She asked. I nodded. "He's on the phone, right? Let me talk to him."

I handed her my phone.

"Hi, you're Kouichi and Kouji's father, right?" She paused. "I was wondering if instead of dragging you out at night like this, perhaps the boys would like to stay over for the night? It would save you the hassle of trying to find this place, and they can borrow Takuya's pajamas." There was another pause, then: "I'll ask them. Kouichi, Kouji, would you like to stay here for the night?"

We looked at each other. True, our home was a lot quieter than the Kanbara home, but I didn't really want to go out in the rain again, even if it was for a few seconds.

"I'd like to," Kouichi said before I could. "I don't want Dad to go driving around at night in an unfamiliar place, and if I go out again my books will get wet." There wasn't anything else I could add to that, so I simply nodded.

"Really? They're staying _here_? Great!" Takuya threw his arms around both of us, causing me to yelp.

"Let go of me, idiot!"

"Here, your father wants to talk to you again." Takuya's mother handed me the phone again. I managed to wriggle out of Takuya's grip long enough to grab my phone.

"Dad?"

"Kouji, you guys are gonna stay at Takuya's place, right?"

"Right."

"Is your homework done?"

"Mine is...Big brother, Dad wants to know if your homework's done."

"All except the math, it's not due until after lunch...I can do it tomorrow."

I repeated Kouichi's words to Dad.

"Okay," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

I hung up the phone then turned to see Takuya and Shinya arguing. Again.

"No _fair_, how come big brother's friends get to stay tonight? Why can't Tomoki come over?"

"We had Tomoki over last week. Now it's my turn, little brother."

A sudden boom of thunder silenced them both.

"Is the power gonna go out?" Shinya asked in a small voice.

"I hope not." Takuya walked over to the window and looked out. "Yeesh, it's really coming down out there...Good thing you guys are staying here."

"Yeah..." I glanced at Kouichi, who had gone back to his book. At least he didn't have to worry about the books getting wet.

There was another _crack _of thunder and then the lights went out.

"The power's out! _Mom_!"

"Shinya, calm down. Give me a moment to find the flashlight." There was some movement and I could sort of see Takuya's mother trying to feel her way around.

"You guys okay?" Their father felt his way down the stairs. "Where's the flashlight?"

"Found it!" I could see the beam of a flashlight coming from the kitchen. The two adults both joined us in the living room.

"So, now what?" Shinya asked. "When's the power coming back on?"

"Soon, I hope." Kouichi's statement was punctuated by a burst of lightning and another crash of thunder.

"What do we do?" Shinya whined, leaning closer to his mother and the flashlight.

"The best thing we can do in a blackout..." Takuya snatched the flashlight out of his mother's hands and dramatically held it up to his face. "Tell ghost stories!"

I felt Kouichi suddenly tense up against me. What was that idiot _thinking_?

"No!" Shinya yelled before I could object. In the glow of the flashlight, I could see him bury himself into his mother's side. "_Mom_!"

"Takuya!" His mother grabbed the flashlight back. "No ghost stories!"

"Aw, c'mon! I just picked up some good ones..."

"No, thank you!" Kouichi had a slight tremor to his voice, and Takuya's eyes widened as he realized what he'd been about to do.

"Oops. Sorry, Kouichi. No ghost stories..."

That was when the lights came back on, causing all of us to sigh in relief.

"Well, that was some fun family bonding," Takuya's father said. "Let's do it again sometime!"

Takuya grabbed a nearby pillow from the couch and threw it at him. It missed by a mile.

"And this is why you'll never make goalie!" His father called, then bolted for the stairs before Takuya could try again.

"I'm not a goalie, I'm a striker!" Takuya crossed his arms in annoyance. "Geez..."

"Takyua, don't throw pillows at your father." His mother bent over to pick up the pillow before tossing it onto the couch again, then went to put the flashlight away before heading back upstairs herself.

"What? He throws pillows at _me _all the time..." Takuya paused as he noticed Shinya turning on the game again. "Hey Shinya it was _my _turn to play."

"No it _wasn't_!"

I scowled irritably. They never stopped, did they? I thanked whatever divine power had given me a quiet guy like Kouichi for a brother.

"Hey Takuya."

"What?"

"I want to hear your ghost stories...Is there any place we can go where Shinya and Kouichi won't have to hear them?"

Kouichi had a look of gratitude on his face, no doubt relieved that he wouldn't have to hear it. That was good. I didn't want him to break down again.

"Well, there's my room. I've even got a spare flashlight in there, so we won't have to borrow Mom's..." Takuya flashed that idiotic grin at me. "Let's go!"

Once we were in Takuya's room, he dug through a pile of assorted stuff until he found a flashlight, then paused to look at me.

"You weren't telling me that because you wanted me and Shinya to stop arguing, were you?"

"No. I _like _ghost stories. It's just that I didn't want to hear them with Kouichi around."

"Really? I thought you wouldn't because your Mom died and all."

"_Kouichi _was the one who lived with Mom. Dad told me she'd died years ago...He was trying to keep me from trying to see her."

"Aw, that's awful!" Takuya moved to sit down on his bed.

"I wish I'd known her enough to mourn her...It's like mourning for a stranger. I can't feel it in the same way that big brother feels it...Mom's death didn't hurt me in the same way it hurt him."

"Well, maybe it didn't hurt you in the same way, but you're definitely _feeling _it. Anyway, why don't you sit down and we can start?" Takuya got up to turn off the lights and put on the flashlight.

That was how we spent the last hours before Takuya's father knocked on his door to inform us that it was bedtime. Kouichi was with him, his books still in hand. Takuya was happy to lend us his spare pajamas, although Kouichi was still too shy to change into them with us. He slipped into the bathroom to change.

"There's more space to sleep in the living room," Takuya's father pulled out two sets of spare blankets from a nearby closet. "The couch is probably the next best thing we have to a bed, there's enough space there that at least one of you can take it." He gave the couch a thoughtful glance. "Maybe _both _of you, if you try sleeping at either end."

"I'll take the floor." As fond as I was of Kouichi, I didn't like the thought of sharing a slightly too thin couch with him. Besides, I was better at sleeping in places other than a bed or futon than he was. Takuya's father shrugged, and put the thicker set of blankets on the floor. Kouichi settled down on the couch the instant it had blankets, no doubt it was that time of night when his brain started shutting down.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Takuya called, and thumped up the stairs presumably to bed. His father followed him after turning off the light, and we were alone again.

"You gonna be okay, big brother?" I asked. "It's darker here than it is at home."

"I'm fine. You're here too, and besides...It's not thundering anymore."

He was right, I realized. The thunder had subsided.

We both lay there for another minute.

"Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I didn't know you liked ghost stories. There's still so much I don't know about you."

"That goes for me, too. I wonder what would've happened if Mom and Dad hadn't gotten divorced?"

He rolled over, going by how much more muffled his voice became, I guessed he'd rolled over to face the back of the couch.

"I think about _that _all the time...But if they hadn't gotten divorced, we wouldn't be here...We wouldn't have met Takuya."

"Hmm..." I looked up at the ceiling, invisible in the darkness. "You're right."

"I know we shouldn't be thinking about the what might have beens...I mean, we have enough problems dealing with what actually happened...That doesn't stop me from _thinking _about it."

There wasn't really anything I could say to that. I struggled for a minute, trying to find something to say.

"I can at least concentrate on _here _and _now _most of the time," my brother continued. "It's mainly when I find out things like you liking ghost stories happen...That's when I start wondering what we'd be like if we grew up together."

"Well, we'd be a lot different, that's for sure." I turned my head to look in the direction of his voice. "For one thing, you'd be more comfortable changing clothing when I'm around."

He snorted with laughter.

"Seriously, big brother...I like you just the way you are, now. Can you imagine if we turned out like Takuya and _his _brother?"

"I think we'd have driven Mom crazy, if we were like that..." Kouichi's voice faltered a little.

"Dad, too. He's not the noisy type, like Takuya's father."

"Yeah, you're right."

We were both silent for a few minutes.

"I'm...I'm glad we turned out this way, too." Kouichi rolled over to face me again, going by the fact that his voice got a bit louder. "You're a good brother, Kouji...I'm glad I met you."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah..." I imagined him with that sweet smile at that point. "Who else would wait for me in the bookstore? Or listen to me as I ramble..." He yawned.

"Or keep you awake past your bedtime?" I suggested pointedly.

"Yeah, that too..."

"Goodnight, big brother." I closed my eyes.

As I drifted off to sleep, the last thing I heard was Kouichi's soft chuckle.

"Goodnight...Little brother."

**Author's note: Once again this one took longer than I thought to write (Darnit, why must Pokemon have such addictive games? Why can't Digimon have something similar?)...But it also turned out longer than I thought it would. Go figure.**

**About the only other thing worth mentioning is Izumi's Italian phrase, "Gemelli", which according to the translator is Italian for "Twins."**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Had it really been two months since Kouichi had arrived? It seemed like only a little time had passed since I'd first seen him. And yet it also felt like I'd known him for years. Well, technically I _had_, but I hadn't actually _known _he was there.

That day Kouichi had finished his physical homework, but decided to take a break before studying for his upcoming math test to go through Mom's old letters to decide which to keep. I wasn't quite finished with mine, and since the thought of going through Mom's stuff was very distracting I had moved back into my own room to finish. Which is why I was mildly irritated when my brother knocked on the closed door about twenty minutes later.

"Kouji?"

I glared at the door. If it wasn't Kouichi, I'd have just ignored him. "What is it? I'm kinda busy."

"I need to talk to you, it's about Mom."

I growled a little and got up to open the door. Kouichi was standing there with an unfolded letter in his hands. His eyes shone with anticipation. Whatever was in that letter had to be good...

"I found out that Mom actually called Satomi when she married Dad..."

My world froze. That woman had actually _known _my mother was alive? And she had never told _me_...I pushed past Kouichi, ignoring his startled cry of protest and stormed down the stairs. Satomi was in her workroom now, working on some project or another. She looked up, startled as I opened the door so hard it slammed against the inner wall.

"Kouji, what...?"

"You _knew _her, didn't you?"

Her eyes widened with confusion. "What?"

"You talked to my mother. You _knew _she was alive, didn't you? You're no better than Dad is!"

"Kouji!" Kouichi was standing behind me, the frustration clear on his face. "You took off before I could tell you the rest. Mom called Satomi, but she didn't use her real name. She thought Satomi would make a great mother, _that's _what I was trying to tell you."

I glared at him. He was always taking her side, wasn't he? As if she really _was _his mother. He glared back defiantly, showing the stubborn side that usually remained hidden under all his sweetness. That was when I heard a sob behind me. I turned to see Satomi with her face in her hands trying to muffle the sound. While a part of me realized that it was my fault for confronting her like that, the rest of me felt nothing but disgust. She _deserved _it for thinking she could replace my mother.

I turned to go, only to have the door slam in my face. Kouichi? What was he _doing_? I turned the doorknob, but the door didn't move. He was blocking the door, wasn't he? I shook the doorknob irritably.

"Kouichi, what are you _doing_?"

"I'm _tired_ of playing peacemaker with you and Satomi! I'm not letting you out until Satomi stops crying!"

"Kouichi, you...!" I couldn't finish the sentence. I was outraged that my brother would _do _this to me.

"Every time Satomi tried to do something nice for you, you just ignore it. I've had _enough_! She's a great person, even _Mom_ could see that! Here!" The letter Kouichi had been holding earlier was pushed under the door. "Read it for yourself."

Sure, she did nice things for me, but that was only to win me over, right? I glared down at the letter before finally picking it up. The letter was from about three years ago, to someone I'd never heard of but was probably a friend of Mom's. The first part was the usual stuff about how she, Kouichi, and his grandmother was doing, then...

_"...I just found out Kousei is getting married again. Her name's Satomi Uehara. I looked her up and called her. I didn't want to deal with Kousei and his lies..."_

I guessed Mom _had _known Dad told me she was dead, after all. It would explain why she never tried to contact me.

_"...So I said I was Tomoko's 'cousin,' Motoko. I was a bit scared at first, but I wanted to see what kind of mother she'd make..."_

Only an interfering, nosy, entirely _too _cheerful one. I continued reading.

_"...She's actually a really nice person. It really surprised me. Then again, I don't think Kousei would marry anyone if they couldn't handle being a mother, but Satomi's definitely up for the task of being a mother. Even if we just talked for a while on the phone, I can tell that much."_

"I thought there was something funny about the woman that called me that day." Satomi's voice shook as she took her hands off her face. "She knew too much about you for a mother's cousin."

I rattled the door one more time, in the hope of escaping the increasingly awkward situation, but the door didn't budge.

"I wish I could've met her face to face. If I'd have known she was alive, I'd have taken you to see her myself. It was your father's idea for you to call me 'Mom.' I don't want to replace her...I never did."

I paused before turning to her. She would've taken me to _meet _my mother. What had I done? _Kouichi _had made a better son than I had. In fact, every time I saw them together I'd stayed away...I'd just stood back and _let _him do everything with Satomi.

"I...I owe you an apology, Satomi. Not just for blowing up at you like that..." It hurt to admit the truth, but I owed it to her after all the things she'd done for me. "It's because ever since Kouichi came here, I've been letting _him_ play the son in the family. Every time we did something...Fun World, the anniversary...I just stood by and let_ him _make you happy. I thought you were trying to replace Mom...But, I...I was letting Kouichi replace _me_."

"Kouji!" Satomi got up and before I had a chance to blink she threw her arms around me and held me tightly. "Nobody could _ever_ replace you. Not even Kouichi."

"R-really?" For the first time in my life, I didn't try to shake her off. In fact, I felt tears coming to my eyes, too. That hadn't happened to me since Dad married her...

"Of course." Satomi took one arm off me long enough to pull off her glasses and wipe her eyes. "Just because I won't replace your mother doesn't mean I don't want you around. In fact, it's the opposite "

I leaned into her shoulder as she wrapped her arm around me again.

"When your mother died and Kouichi came to live with us, I was sad that you couldn't meet her...And _this _close to hitting your father for lying to us." Satomi held up her fingers an inch apart before moving her hand to stroke my ponytail. "It wasn't until I had a chance to cool down a little that I realized that having a brother around to talk to might be good for you...And Kouichi, too. I didn't realize _how _good until I saw you two, the day Kouichi was sick. You tried to hide it from me, but I saw the way you two smiled at each other. He made you happy, and you did the same for him...That's all I wanted. It's all I want for _both _of you...And I think your mother would have wanted that too."

"She did..." I managed around the tears that threatened to overwhelm me. "That's what Kouichi told me. You're doing a good job, Satomi. Don't let me, or anyone else, tell you otherwise."

"Kouji..."

I kept going. "Your birthday's next month, right? I'll give you the flowers myself. I'll...I'll get you the biggest bouquet I can find. Because you _deserve _it, Satomi. You aren't my Mom, but you're just as wonderful as she was."

She didn't, or more likely _couldn't _say anything through her tears, but just hugged me even tighter. I hugged her back, feeling the tears running down my cheeks. It took us a few minutes to separate and pull ourselves together.

"Thank you, Kouji." Satomi paused to wipe her eyes again. "Oh, I need to go and wash my face now."

"Me too." I grinned sheepishly at her. "I haven't cried like that since you two were married."

"You cried? I never saw it."

"That's because I did it when I was in bed...I was so angry at Dad for betraying Mom's memory and marrying you...Never mind. That's all over. Let's hope Kouichi will let us out so we can wash our faces."

"He'll let us out if it's me asking." Satomi walked to the door behind me and opened it easily. There was no sign of Kouichi, and I suspected he'd left when Satomi and I had started breaking down. There was no sign of Raiko or her leash, and I guessed that he'd probably taken her for a walk.

"Well, we might as well get our faces washed." Satomi briskly headed upstairs in the direction of the bathroom. I followed her up long enough to wash my eyes off, but then instead of going back to my homework I went back down to her workroom with her.

"Satomi?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you still have that extra picture frame I got you for Christmas? I was wondering if I could use it...I've filled up my other one with that picture of Mom and the one of Kouichi and me at Fun World...I need a place to put a picture of all of us."

"It's in the closet upstairs." Satomi paused. "I need to see if your father can get one of all four of us together...We haven't really had a chance to do that." She looked around. "I wonder where Kouichi went."

"Kouichi's probably off walking Raiko...It's about that time, although I've never seen him walk her before. I hope he can handle her if she sees a squirrel."

"He'll be okay. Besides, he can just call us if she gets away from him." Satomi settled down in her chair. "He brings me food sometimes, and tells me to take a break when I've been working too long. I think he's trying to take care of me because he can't take care of his mother anymore."

"Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do." My brother had lived with an overworked, probably underpaid mother and had constantly worried about her health when she was alive. It only made sense that he wouldn't want to see anyone else overworking themselves like that.

"He's a nice kid." Satomi turned to her computer. "We're lucky to have him around. Speaking of which, is your homework done yet?"

"Almost. I got a bit distracted when Kouichi found that letter..." I looked down to where I'd dropped the letter when Satomi had hugged me. "Might as well give it back to him...Can I wait until he comes back? I just want to make sure he's okay with Raiko."

"Sure."

I went outside and leaned by the door to wait for Kouichi. About ten minutes later, he came back panting a little from the exertion of being pulled around by an enthusiastic Raiko. He gave me a shy glance.

"Feeling better?"

"You might say that." I took a deep breath. "Kouichi, I want to apologize for making you go through all that. I was just so mad at Satomi...I was such an idiot."

"You were, but it's over now, right?"

"Right. No more making you the peacemaker, big brother. I promise."

That sweet smile lit up his face. "Apology accepted. Now are you gonna stand there all day? That homework isn't gonna do itself, you know."

"Don't you still have to study for that math test tomorrow?"

He cringed, proving that with everything going on he had in fact forgotten about the math test. I smirked a bit at the expression of horror on his face.

"Honestly Kouichi how did you get past your math tests before you met me?"

"Mom helped. She was great at math..."

"That skill must've all gone to me, then. C'mon." I threw an arm around his shoulder as we both went into the house, with Raiko following.

I didn't really get much of a chance to talk to Satomi at dinner...Although that was more because I was too busy eating than anything else. Still, I enjoyed myself a bit more than I usually did at dinner. Maybe because I wasn't feeling resentful at Satomi for just being there.

"So, who's hosting the weekly movie this time?" Dad asked.

It had been Izumi's idea. After Takuya and his friends had shown up to watch Godzilla, Izumi had suggested that maybe the next week we could all get together at _her _place and watch one of those "Spaghetti Westerns." Then Takuya had said that maybe we could do some kind of movie watching thing each week. It would give us a chance to know each other better.

"This week's Takuya's week," I told him. "He's got his brother hanging around, so we're just gonna watch a cartoon of some sort."

Actually, Shinya was not the only little kid who was going to be there. Takuya had also told me that Shinya's friend Tomoki was going to be there that day, which would effectively keep Shinya out of his hair...For _some _of the time, anyways.

As we were finishing, I saw Satomi start to pick up the plates.

"You want any help with that?"

She blinked, but shook her head. "I'm fine. Thanks, Kouji."

This exchange hadn't escaped Dad's notice.

"You two seem to be getting along better. Did something happen?"

Satomi and I exchanged glances, then I grinned at Kouichi.

"Let's just say we finally had some time to really talk." Kouichi turned a lovely shade of red and looked down at the table. I considered it a minor revenge for locking me in with Satomi earlier. Dad raised an eyebrow.

"I see...Did Kouichi have anything to do with it?"

"You might say that," he mumbled, embarrassed.

_"Satomi...Is gone." Dad said, his voice dead with shock. "She was hit by a car and died on the way to the hospital._

_I couldn't say anything. I couldn't think of anything to say. Satomi was dead. She might have been trying to replace my dead mother, but she deserved better than to go that way!_

_I looked over at that picture Dad had taken of the three of us a few months ago. If I had known Satomi would die that day, I would have tried to stop her. I should have said something...Done something. _

_I should have told her that I really did care for her..._

_...Now it was too late._

_And that one small part of me that remembered how things were screamed in horror. Satomi wasn't the one who died, my mother was. That small part could see Mom, safely home from work, trying to make dinner while Kouichi read, completely unaware of his twin brother. Meanwhile, Mom suffered from keeping her own son a secret from his brother. Satomi dying instead of Mom meant that not only would I not meet Kouichi, We wouldn't have been at the amusement park that one day and wouldn't have met Takuya. I wouldn't have my stepmother, my brother, or my best friend..._

_Dad started shaking my shoulder, saying my name. Even as he did, the loneliness swallowed me..._

"Kouji."

_The loneliness..._

"Kouji!"

I gasped and my eyes opened. Kouichi was at my side looking down at me, the concern on his face visible in the light from the window. It was only a dream.

"Bad dream?" Kouichi asked gently.

I nodded. _How _had Kouichi known I was having a nightmare? We weren't sharing the same room that night, and my door at least was shut. "Satomi was the one who got hit by that car, not Mom..." I shuddered remembering the horrible cold feeling of despair. "It was only a dream...Sorry I woke you, big brother."

Why had I had that dream? Was it because I had finally accepted Satomi as a nice person, if not a mother figure? Was it because I'd changed so much over the past few weeks? The blanket under me twitched and was pulled aside, and I turned to see Kouichi sitting down on the bed beside me.

"Kouichi, what are you _doing_?"

He lay down next to me, wrapping the blankets around him.

"When I was little and had a bad dream, Mom would let me share her futon. I think you need the same thing."

"Kouichi..." My brother's body was a solid, reassuring presence. His warmth next to me did a lot to banish the remaining terror from that dream.

He rolled over with that sweet smile on his face.

"Just this once, all right?"

It was very hard for me to refuse anything he asked with that smile, and I found myself smiling back.

"Just this once."

I couldn't see the picture of Mom from where I was lying...Even if Kouichi wasn't in the way, but I imagined the sweet smile on the old picture, so much like Kouichi's except a bit less shy. She had raised Kouichi, so it made sense that he would act like her. In a way, it was like she had never left me...

...Even if I _did _wake up the next day in the embarrassing position of having my brother's arms wrapped around me and his face pressed against my shoulders. But after a minute's thought I was okay with it. Besides, it wasn't like Dad or Satomi were around to see it.

It was just another part of being brothers.

FIN

**Author's Note: And. It. Is. DONE! Whoo! I can finally concentrate on Pokemon again!**

**So I guess the question is, what next? The answer...I have no idea! I want to find some way to keep the writing intertia going, maybe putting up some of my abandoned fics might give me the motivation I need...Although knowing my luck, probably not.**


End file.
